Personality Adjustment
by ShadowArchon456
Summary: A very influential organization finds interest in the third child and his evangelion unit, but before they can make use of his skills for their own needs, something must be done about that pessimistic outlook...Shinji Ikari, it's time for your therapy.
1. Prologue: A Train Ride

Disclaimer: This story is purely created for entertainment and not for any monetary gain. The characters used within this story belong purely to those who created them. Please support the official stories and the authors' that created them, because without them, fan-fiction wouldn't be possible.

* * *

The dull sounds of metal wheels traveling on a track reverberated through the cabin. It was the distinct 'clickety-clack clickety-clack' noise the train sang as it went on its journey.

The setting sun's orange light was the only thing to illuminate the interior, casting everything in a carroty hue. The high-pitched noise of a crossing siren could be heard. It became louder and louder, until the train passed the crossroad, resulting in the noise quickly fading away into silence.

There was a boy sitting on one side of the train, and a man on the other, both facing each other. The dying sunlight was streaming through the window on the man's side.

The boy was wearing a white collared shirt with a blue undershirt. A brown belt tied his black dress pants to his waist, and a pair of white shoes adorned his feet. He had short, ear-length brown hair, and dark blue eyes. He was of Japanese descent, and was of average height and skin tone.

The man, however, was wearing a blue-gray two-piece business suit, with a white collared undershirt, decorated with a purple tie, which he was adjusting with his free hand. His other hand was on top of his briefcase in the vacant seat next to him. He was tall, and thin. His skin was chalky and pale, and his face had a fair share of lines showing he appeared middle-aged. He had mostly dark brown hair, with a few gray strands here and there, cut in a military-style crew cut, and displayed a prominent widow's peak. His turquoise eyes stared at the boy across him. His ancestry was…ambiguous.

He spoke to the boy in a raspy, slow tone, and stressed his 'S' in a most peculiar fashion.

"Shinji Ikari, I do apologize for in the manner in which this meeting had to take place. I was…" He took a raspy wet breath, "…willing to wait until you were older, but my employers did not wish…events to unfold as they most assuredly would without my…intervention."

Shinji's face was wrought with confusion. The man was speaking English, yet Shinji completely understood him as if he was fluent in the language…but he knew he wasn't. He tried to open his mouth and speak to the man, but no noise would come out of his mouth.

"Mr. Ikari," He took a raspy wet breath and put his hand out, "…I am not here to commence a…dialogue with you." He brought his hand back to his side. "I am here to let you know my employers are interested in your capabilities, and would like me to offer you a job." He took another raspy wet breath. "You've proven yourself…an indecisive individual…so I have no intention of giving you the illusion of free will, or manipulating you to make the right choice. I will be deciding for you, as that is much simpler and easier in the end, wouldn't you agree?"

Through his utter confusion, Shinji Ikari had very mixed feelings about that.

"Your potential is truly limitless...Mr. Ikari. However, before we can put your skills to work, we need to address that…personality of yours. If we don't…it might …inevitably end as it would have if I had never plucked you from your world to begin with." He said as he pretended to tug something in the air in front of him.

The train went into a tunnel, and the cabin went dark. However, while Shinji couldn't see anything else inside the train, he could clearly see the man as if he was in broad daylight…yet nothing was illuminating him.

The man took another raspy, wet breath. "You see, your personality…limits you. Self-loathing and depression are horrible…motivators." He smirked slightly. "My employers and I know that you would…eventually develop a better outlook if the inescapable events had taken place." He shook his head. "But we cannot allow those proceedings the possibility of occurring. The enemy most certainly would take advantage of it."

Shinji could see light coming from ahead of the train, as the train exited the tunnel. The sound of metal wheels on a track ended and the orange glow disappeared. The only thing outside the train now was a field of endless stars streaking by as the phantom train continued forward.

"As such, Mr. Ikari, before we can become fellow colleagues, you will need…treatment." The man grabbed his suitcase and stood up from his seat.

"It will take time until you arrive at your destination…" he took a raspy wet breath. "…but if and when you do, try to adopt a new mind-set, because you are absolutely worthless to us only as long as you think you are, and until you think more positively of your own self-being, you will be a…permanent resident of where we are sending you. "

Thoughts raced through Shinji's head. _'What's going on? What about the angels? The Eva? What about Rei? What about Asuka? Misato? Father? What's happening?'_ The entire train and the field of stars dissolved into a black void, and Shinji fell to a ground he could not see.

The man looked down at Shinji with a straight face. "I can see the questions just boiling in your mind from your face alone…I have the answers Mr. Ikari…but, well, I'm…not at liberty to share them."

He turned around and walked a few feet away. Shinji's eyes followed the man, as that was all he could do. Part of the black void opened as if it was a door, revealing only pure white. The man turned his head to the side towards Shinji.

"I can say this, Pilot Ikari, you and the large humanoid you call…an Evangeion will be…intimately connected for years to come." He narrowed his eyes and smiled at Shinji. "My employers told me to make sure of that." He turned back to the white expanse. "Have a nice long rest. It will be some time until you awaken. Until we meet again, Mr. Ikari, this is where I get off."

The man exited into the white vastness, the door closed, and Shinji felt himself slip into unconsciousness.

* * *

Author's Notes:

And that's the prologue of my first published story.

Funny, I've worked on a story for over a year, and the first material to get published is the one I worked on in a day.

Anyways, this crossover will get to the Tenchi Muyo! part in the next chapter, specifically the War on Geminar setting. As you can see though, Tenchi Muyo! isn't the only crossover. Good old G-Man here is from Half-Life. Unfortunately, there won't be much from him in the future, as that's why this is not in the Half-Life Section. Hopefully, I can update regularly, and well, hopefully, you enjoyed this small tidbit. It should be said, future chapters are probably going to be far larger, as this is just the prologue.

I could probably ramble on longer, but that's annoying, so...

End of Author's Notes.


	2. Union, Reunion, and Rebirth

Disclaimer: This story is made purely for entertainment and not for any monetary gain. The characters used within this story belong purely to those who created them. Please support the official stories and the authors' that created them, because without them, fan-fiction wouldn't be possible.

Musical Muse (Explanation on Profile Page): Neon Genesis Evangelion - Cruel Angel's Thesis (Full English Fandub)

"_This cruel thesis, a spiteful angel's litany,  
Will soon soar from the window of your destiny  
White hot pathos, a desecrated symphony  
Stay true to this and don't betray your memory!  
Come now, reach out—you must embrace reality  
Rise up, young boy, and make yourself a legend!"  
_

* * *

All that could be seen was a black void. All that could be heard were several voices in rapid succession.

'_Stupid Shinji...' 'Shinji Ikari!' 'Hey Shinji!' 'Yo, Shinji!' 'Ikari?' 'Shinji.' _

The voices became higher in pitch and repeated.

'_Stupid Shinji...' 'Shinji Ikari!' 'Hey Shinji!' 'Yo, Shinji!' 'Ikari?' 'Shinji.'_

'_Stupid Shinji...' 'Shinji Ikari!' 'Hey Shinji!' 'Yo, Shinji!' 'Ikari?' 'Shinji.'_

'_Stupid Shinji...' 'Shinji Ikari!' 'Hey Shinji!' 'Yo, Shinji!' 'Ikari?' 'Shinji.'_

'_Stupid Shinji...' 'Shinji Ikari!' 'Hey Shinji!' 'Yo, Shinji!' 'Ikari?' 'Shinji.'_

'_Stupid Shinji...' 'Shinji Ikari!' 'Hey Shinji!' 'Yo, Shinji!' 'Ikari?' 'Shinji.'_

Eventually, the voices became so high they could no longer be understood.

"It's no good. The Ego Border is frozen in a loop!"

'_What…what's happening?'_

"Irradiate the wave patterns in all directions.

My god, it won't work. The signals are being trapped in Klein space."

'_Where am I?' _

"What does that mean!?"

"It means we failed.

Abort intervention. Reverse tangent plug."

'_These voices…are so familiar…'_

"All of our sensors connected to the Entry Plug have short-circuited!"

"S2 organ powering up! AT field detected! It's coming from inside the Entry Plug!"

"What?!"

"The AT field is inverted! Dear god, it's the same field generated by the Twelfth Angel!

'_Why can't I feel anything?' _

"A Dirac Sea is forming inside the Entry Plug!"

"That's...That's impossible!"

"Ritsuko, what the hell is happening?"

"I…I don't know..."

The black void was interrupted with a flash of green and a sound like thunder.

"Unknown energy signatures detected coalescing around Unit 01!"

"Unit 01…it's disappearing! It's…it's gone!

But the AT field, it's still there!"

"Oh my god…"

"Unit 01's mass is gone, but we are picking up an energy signature in its place!

Wait, its being forced into the Entry Plug! It's disappearing into the Dirac Sea!"

There was another flash of green and sound of thunder.

"The LCL in the entry plug, it's disappearing too!"

"Shinji! Shinji! **Shinji!**"

* * *

"Having unpleasant dreams, Mr. Ikari?" A raspy voice spoke in a black void. Slowly, Shinji could see a man in a business suit phase into existence in front of him. The same man who was on the train.

Strange noises could be heard in the background. Electrical in nature, almost like the sound a Tesla coil would make, yet much calmer. It was in a constant rhythm, and reminded him of steady breathing.

"Well, it's of no consequence. I'm sure you can put the pieces together of what happened, hmm?" The business man took in a raspy, wet breath. "It's time to wake up. You've arrived…and…you wouldn't want to oversleep now, would you?"

"A whole new world waits for you." He took in a raspy wet breath. "You're an impossible distance from home, so if you ever want to see Misato, Rei, Asuka, Toji, Kensuke," he let out the smallest of laughs "your father…and on and on again and return home, you'll concentrate on… well, you know."

He took in another breath. "Don't concern yourself with Third Impact, Mr. Ikari. I promise that the time spent here will not be…spent at home." He shook his head. "I could give you detail after detail, jargon after jargon to explain the…specific nuances on time and space and their…correlation, but…that would be wasted on you. Simply put, manipulation of one inherently leads to the manipulation of the other, and…well, you'll understand later. "

"So, wake up, Mr. Ikari, wake up. It's time for your therapy." Slowly, the man faded from view, and a new place formed around him, taking the place of the black void.

Around him materialized a luxurious room. A dinner table decorated with fine china was in the center, and around it were elegant chairs made of high quality timber. The floor was of white colored marble, and the walls were made of the same material, but they weren't merely a flat surface, the walls had intricately carved columns and arches. Under the arches, in the few flat spaces of walling, several paintings of landscapes he didn't recognize were adorned there, and their frames were made out of what seemed to be silver.

Shinji's mind was muddled, and his head ached. Just as on the train, he had trouble remembering.

He looked down at himself, and noticed he was still wearing his normal clothes, as he had in the train when the strange business man spoke to him the first time. Quickly checking his pockets, he noticed his wallet was missing from his left back pocket, but, his SDAT player with its headphones was in his right front pocket, currently still paused on track twenty-five.

As his mind began to clear, memories returned to him.

"I was in the Eva again…even after I promised…and I was fighting the fourteenth Angel….and then the power ran out." Shinji's breathing sped up. "…and I was going to die…Eva wouldn't move…but then…" Shinji remembered seeing a blue light and hearing a heartbeat. "…the Eva unit…reactivated…It killed the fourteenth angel…and then….what happened after that?"

Random flashes of incoherent thoughts popped in his head.

Shinji held a hand to his head in pain.

The noise of a door being opened broke him from his thoughts, and turned around. A boy entered the room, seemingly someone his age. He had short dirty blond hair and dark green eyes. He was wearing a white and yellow shirt. The center of the shirt's torso and the interior of the arm's sleeves were yellow, while the collar, the shoulders, and the arm's outer sleeves were white. He had a solemn look on his face, until he noticed Shinji. His face adopted a surprised expression.

"Oh, I didn't know another male Seikishi was on this ship, and we're so close to the Academy." He shook his head. "I thought I was the only commoner selected this year." He smiled. "I'm glad I was wrong."

Shinji stared at the boy. '_Seikishi? Holy Machine Wielder_?_'_ "Ano…by Seikishi, do you mean pilot?"

The boy adopted a confused face. "I've never heard anyone call being a Seikishi something that mundane," He chuckled. "But that is what is in the end isn't it?" He then took on an ashamed face. "I just barged in here talking without introducing myself. I'm Ceres Tyte." He bowed slightly to Shinji.

Shinji returned the gesture. "Shinji Ikari."

Ceres smiled. "Well, Shinji-san, I guess we will be classmates when the spring term starts."

"Nani?"

Ceres blinked. "You know, at the Holy Land Academy?"

Shinji's face showed he had no idea what Ceres was talking about.

"Uh…Shinji-san, where did you live before you were selected?"

The term 'selected' instantly made Shinji think of the strange man, and he cringed slightly, a gesture which did not go unnoticed by Ceres, who raised an eyebrow in response. Shinji didn't even think of lying, and answered truthfully. "Tokyo-3."

Ceres regained a perplexed look on his face while speaking in a very controlled manner. "To-ky-o-3?"

Shinji nodded.

Ceres put a hand to his chin. "I've never heard of it." Noticing something, Ceres took a few steps to the window. "We're slowing down…" He commented.

Suddenly, three loud knocks sounded from the wooden door of the room, and a gruff sounding voice spoke. "Oy, we're about to reach the Academy's port. Grab whatever luggage you have, and be ready to leave the ship in five minutes." He was slightly muffled, but they could hear him clearly.

Ceres sighed. "If I knew you were here earlier Shinji-san, I would have left the ship's forward cabin earlier. Well, I've got to grab my bags. I'll see you in a few minutes when we arrive at the port." With that Ceres left the room.

Shinji raised an eyebrow. '_Ship? Port? Am I on the ocean?' _With nothing else to do, Shinji followed Ceres' lead and walked outside the room.

He had wide eyes.

The sight of the entrance to the Holy Land Academy lay in front of him. '_Amazing…'_ It's beauty reminded him when he saw the Geofront the first time.

It was made out of white stone, and on both sides of the center entrance, there were two large circular towers, much like the turrets built with western-designed castles. In the center itself, there was a large open entrance leading into the underground depths of the Academy, which is where the port lied. Above the actual aperture was a dark colored stone mural of lines etched into a pattern he didn't recognize. At that height, there were small floating islands in supporting white monoliths in two parallel lines, kind of like traffic markers guiding the ships. Above the mural, laid a large white arch, which held a statue of a…something underneath it, and below the large opening they were headed towards, an actual doorway with steps lied if you happened to approach the monumental building from the ground.

That's when Shinji noticed that he was on, not a ship of the sea, but of the air. He was flying. The vessel he was on had a wooden deck, like naval vessels of old, but there were signs of grey metal weaved together with the wood for stability. The room he was just in was the very back of the ship. The area he was at now was the main deck, and it covered as much space as twice the length of the room he was just in, but the same width. Several 'sailors' were hard at work moving supplies onto the deck from a supply room underneath, using ropes and a pulley to lift gray metal looking crates and barrels. Towards the front of the ship, there was another "cabin" like the one he just exited.

He observed that other such "ships" were flying above and below the one he was on, either entering the academy or leaving. Some were of similar design of the one he was a passenger of, ships that wouldn't look out of place on the sea. Others looked more bizarre, like space craft ready to travel to the moon, or flying pieces of land with houses or palaces on them.

Shinji sighed as he closed the door to the back cabin. '_My life just gets complicated more and more...'_ He looked at the flying ships around him.. '_If things like the angels and Evas can exist, why not business men who can take people to other worlds where gravity is conditional?'_ He frowned. _'Why is he interested in me? What purpose could I possibly serve now? Without Eva…' _

As the ship came closer to the "port" Shinji noticed Ceres exiting from the front cabin holding a bag strapped across his shoulder and carrying…what must have been this world's equivalent to a rolling suitcase, considering it was floating.

As he walked towards the center of the deck, so did Shinji.

"Shinji-san, where's your luggage?"

Shinji just shook his head. "I don't have any."

Ceres just stared at Shinji. "Really? The school will supply us with the fundamentals, but that's rather bare-boned isn't it?"

Shinji just shrugged. "I'll be fine, Tyte-san." Shinji had the slightest of smiles. "Don't worry about me."

"O-Okay." Ceres said unconvincingly. He then frowned. "You don't have to be so formal." He smiled. "We can be friends, right?"

Shinji just stared at the other boy for a second. "You don't even know me though."

"Isn't that the purpose of becoming friends, to get acquainted with people you'd like to know?"

Shinji just looked at Ceres, spacing out in the process as his eyes glazed over.

A few seconds passed.

Ceres waved his hand in front of Shinji.

Shinji just shook his head wildly. "I'm sorry, I was thinking."

Ceres just nodded slowly. "So, can we be friends?" Ceres looked down, and frowned. "It would really make this whole experience much more tolerable."

"H-Hai." Shinji slowly started to smile.

The ship suddenly entered the opening underneath the mural, and the sunlight slowly left the ship for a few seconds, before returning once the vessel reached the other side. As the ship continued, it entered into a pathway underneath the campus, fully blocking the sunlight this time for more than just meager seconds. Lighting, from…somewhere, illuminated everything enough so visibility wasn't an issue. There were light fixtures, but the lighting was practically the same as daylight just not has potent, so the lamps couldn't have been the main sources of light in the cavernous tunnel. The sides off the main path were mainly landing locations between columns, and at the moment, not too many people were here.

The vessel continued down the wide corridor

"If it weren't for the activation tests being moved to this morning, we would have entered through the main gate." Ceres commented.

"Gate? Didn't we go through the gate? I only saw one opening." Shinji asked.

"Did you see the square with all the lines on it?"

"You mean the mural?"

"It's actually a gate." Ceres stated. "Since we're here because we were selected, and not by nobility, who know they are Seikishi at birth, they hold an activation test, because the only reason we are here is that we," he laughed slightly, "as you put it, "pilot" Seikijin. The test location is generally held in the school's training facilities, but this year, it's in the coliseum. That's why we use this path instead."

The term activation test reminded Shinji of the sync tests with the entry plugs at Nerv. "Tyte-s—"

He was interrupted by a slight frown from Ceres.

Shinji bowed shortly. "Gomen. Ceres-san, how did you know that?"

Ceres still frowned slightly. "Shinji-san…It was in the itinerary that we were given when we were selected for the Academy…"

Shinji shook his head. "I never received the schedule."

Ceres looked uncertain, before smiling slightly. "If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you just fell right out of the sky on this ship…"

A sweat drop appeared on Shinji's head. "It's a good thing you know better…" He muttered.

Ceres laughed at that.

Shinji's sweat drop grew slightly larger.

Ahead of the ship, sunlight could be seen.

"We're almost there…" Ceres stated.

Soon, the ship passed through the opening, back into sunlight. Shinji looked around. Ceres wasn't kidding when he called it a coliseum. Unlike the Roman one, this one had much taller walls, and was larger generally in all other proportions as well. The ship slowly turned and settled down on the coliseum floor, and in front of them, the side of the ship unfolded, displaying a small ramp for them to use.

The gruff voice from earlier spoke from behind them. "Alright, time to disembark!"

Shinji and Ceres shared a glance. The ramp itself was very small. Both of them couldn't go at once.

Shinji took a step back. "You go first Ceres-san."

Ceres smiled. "Thanks, Shinji-san." As Ceres made his way down the ramp, Shinji could just barely hear whispering behind him.

"Who is that?"

"Weren't we only delivering one passenger…."

"Yeah, I thought there was only one Seikishi on board_…" _

As the whispers built up, Shinji quickly decided to leave. Fear was starting to build up in Shinji after he could no longer hear the whispering 'sailors.' '_What happens if they try to stop me? What will I do? I'm not supposed to be here, and there's nowhere to run to…' _As soon as Shinji took a few steps away from the ramp, there was a moment of silence.

Then the ramp suddenly folded back up, and the noise of an engine powering up could be heard. Shinji sighed in relief. He took a few steps forward after Ceres, who was currently listening to a brown haired muscular woman in grey overalls talking. She was busy reading something on her clipboard while talking, behind her was some large transparent light green egg like…thing, and there seemed to be something distinctly humanoid in it. Shinji stood beside Ceres.

"…get this over with. Since the headmistress isn't here due to attending the coronation in Shtrayu, I'm in charge of the campus until she gets back. She generally oversees the activation tests, but I'll be doing it this year." She started to grumble as she flipped to the next page. "Just like I oversaw it last year, the year before that, and the year before that…" She shook her head. "Anyways, my name is Hannah, and I—"She looked up. "We were only receiving one commoner today…" She frowned. "What's going on? Which one of you is Ceres Tyte?"

Ceres blinked. "Are you sure about that Hannah-san?"

She looked back at her clipboard, and flipped through it several times, while muttering. "There's only one person on the arrival schedule from the selection process this year, and that's Ceres Tyte…" She looked back up. "Which one of you is Ceres?"

Shinji pointed over at the dirty-blond. "He's Ceres-san, ma'am."

Hannah blinked. "So, who are you?"

Shinji bowed. "I'm Shinji Ikari, ma'am."

Ceres looked back and forth between Shinji and Hannah. Finally focusing on Hannah, Ceres spoke in a determined manner. "Ma'am, Shinji-san is most definitely a Seikishi. I don't why he isn't on the schedule, and I don't know how a clerical error like that could happen, but I'm positive Shinji-san is a Seikishi."

Shinji furrowed his brows. "Ceres-san…"

Hannah raised an eyebrow. "So…you're vouching for him, eh?" She folded her arms. "If he doesn't pass the test…you will be accountable for trying to help a stowaway into the Holy Land, not to mention putting a civilian at a risk of Ahou exposure." She put on a stern face. "Are you positive he's a Seikishi?"

Ceres looked around, as if in contemplation. He then stared at Hannah. "Hai."

Hannah smiled. "Well then, let's get this out of the way." She pointed at Ceres. "Since you're _actually_ on the schedule, you get the privilege of going first."

Ceres nodded. After he put down his bag and let his "floating" luggage…float, he stepped up to the giant green egg. He stood there for a few seconds, just staring up at the large thing. Shinji could tell the egg itself wasn't large compared to an Eva or Angel, but it was still large compared to people, it being roughly fourteen meters in height.

"Oy, kiddo, what's the hold-up? You've done this before, haven't you?" Hannah said.

"This is my second time." Ceres said with a bit of fear.

Hannah laughed. "Don't worry kid; it's not going to bite."

Shinji just watched on with intrigue.

Ceres placed his palm on the green egg. An intricate circle of yellow light came into existence around his hand. An indention was made into the egg, one in he was sucked into.

Shinji widened his eyes. "Is he going to be okay?"

Hannah just looked over, with suspicion. "He'll be fine…"

The air bubble inside the green egg reached the center. Within a few seconds, the humanoid inside the egg stirred, before standing up. It broke through the egg, the top half of it covered in the green goo from the egg "shell". It clearly was some form of robot. The rest of the egg condensed around the legs and groin area of the machine, to the point it was merely a slime covered machine rather than a machine standing out of an egg. In a flash of light, the humanoid machine changed slightly and the egg glop disappeared. The mech stood at its full height of roughly twenty-eight meters.

It was mainly yellow over-all, but it had white spherical plates over its knees and shoulders, along with a white crest, similar that to a daimond in shape, with the center being the most frontward part, on the head of the machine. There were also white cylindrical knobs at the machine's elbow that were spinning, with a yellow spike going through the center. It slightly reminded Shinji of the third angel's elbow spikes.

There was a partial "rib-cage" made up of four yellow "ribs" on the torso. They couldn't fully be called ribs as they didn't meet in the middle. In the center of this yellow "rib-cage" was a miniature version of the green egg, except more spherical in shape. While not fully a sphere, it was closer to that shape then its past ovoid form. Shinji could see Ceres in the center of this not quite a sphere, in what appeared to be this mecha's version of an entry plug.

The giant yellow man like thing took a few steps, moved its hands around a bit, flexed its joints, before quickly reverting back to a green egg, much faster than it took for it to transform.

In the same way in how he entered, only in reverse, Ceres exited the green egg.

Ceres seemed to be breathing slightly heavy as he came closer to Shinji and Hannah. Hannah was smiling, while Shinji looked slightly shocked. He was used to strange sights, but that was a new one.

"Did I pass?"

Hannah just laughed, walked up the boy, and slapped him on his back. "With flying colors." She then turned towards Shinji with the slightest of frowns. "Alright, your turn."

Shinji merely nodded solemnly and walked towards the egg.

'_What if it doesn't work? What am I going to do? This thing isn't an Eva…'_

Half way there, he turned around.

"Miss Hannah. If something goes wrong, please don't blame Ceres. Blame me." He looked down. "I only want myself to be accountable for what happens."

Hanna sighed. "Sure kid, sure."

Ceres stared at Shinji with uncertainty.

Shinji turned back and started walking. A few moments later, he was right by the egg. He stood there for a few seconds.

Hannah crossed her arms once again. "Come on kid; let's get this farce over with."

Shinji started to flex his right hand. Open. Close. Open. Close. Open. Close. Open. Close.

Ceres looked at Hannah. "It isn't a farce." He looked back to Shinji, and stated with more uncertainty. "It isn't a farce…"

Shinji took a deep breath and tightened his right hand into a fist…

He placed his left hand on the giant egg.

Silence.

After a minute passed, Hannah sighed. "I knew it…alright kiddo, come back over here."

Shinji merely looked at the egg, attempted to turn around…and nearly fell. He looked back at the egg.

"My hand, it's-it's stuck!"

Hannah adopted a stern face. "Come on kid, stop wasting time. If you aren't a Seikishi, you'll wind up with Ahou poisoning for sure if you stay that close to a Seikijin!"

"I'm not joking." Shinji yelled.

A fairly thick white band, the outline of a circle appeared around Shinji's hand. Then a black one appeared beyond that, and then another white one beyond that. This pattern had repeated itself all across the green egg, blotting out the transparent green of the egg entirely with black and white bands, and the larger the circle created, the wider the band that made it up. Shinji's eyes widened.

"It looks-looks like the twelfth angel..." Shinji uttered in horror.

"What the…?" Hannah asked as she looked on with fear.

"Shinji!" Ceres yelled out of concern.

Shinji started to yank as hard as he could, but as hard as he tried, he could not get free. He put both of his feet on the egg for leverage. Unfortunately, they adhered to it as well.

An area of black formed, overlapping the white bands, where Shinji was connected to the Egg, and slowly he started to sink inward.

"This can't be happening! Not again!" Shinji screamed. "Help me! Someone help me!"

Ceres and Hannah both ran towards Shinji. As they neared him, they slammed into an invisible wall, and fell on their rear ends.

In between them and Shinji, several concentric orange octagonal lines formed.

"Someone help me! Help me! He—" Shinji was swallowed into the egg.

Hannah and Ceres both just stared at the egg for several moments in shock.

The egg slowly started to rise into the sky, hovering at least a dozen meters in the air. A sound eerily similar to women vocalizing a high note sounded as a white halo materialized above the black and white egg…

* * *

The dull sounds of metal wheels traveling on a track reverberated through the cabin. It was the distinct 'clickity-clack clickity-clack' noise the train sang as it went on its journey.

The setting sun's orange light was the only thing to illuminate the interior, casting everything in a carroty hue. The high pitched noise of a crossing siren could be heard. It became louder and louder, until the train passed the crossroad, resulting in the noise quickly fading away into silence.

"…I'm here…again? Where am I?"

A younger version of himself across from him answered. "Inside Eva."

"Inside of Eva? But…that can't be right. Eva isn't here."

"Eva is here." His younger self replied.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Eva is here." He repeated.

"That can't be right!" Shinji insisted. "I was just outside. Eva isn't here! It's not in this world!"

"Incorrect. Eva is in this world, but not as it was in the former."

A flash of white blocked Shinji's vision. An image of Misato appeared in front of him.

"Shinji, we are of one mind and body."

An image of Asuka replaced her.

"Shinji, you idiot, we are of one mind and body."

An image of Rei replaced her.

"Ikari, we are of one mind and body."

All of them together appeared, super-imposed over each other, and they spoke simultaneously.

"We are of one mind and body, Shinji! Don't you remember?"

* * *

'_Damn it. Damn it. Damn it,'_ Thought Hannah as she ran through the tunnel-ways underneath the Academy.

Ceres, shocked and confused, was right behind her.

As Hannah made it through the final door before the control room, she yelled in a commanding voice. "We have an emergency!"

Numerous technicians in control chairs, their consoles illuminating multiple colors on their faces, stopped for a second and turned towards her.

When she saw the control center's main screen already displaying a direct real-time feed of the coliseum, she sighed in relief. "So, you're already aware, good. Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on with that Seikijin cocoon?" She pointed at the screen for emphasis.

One of the nearby technicians turned back around towards her controls. "The campus sensors can't penetrate it. It's blocking every method we have of analysis."

"How is that possible? Shouldn't we at least be picking up an Aho energy signature?"

The same technician replied. "Ma'am, there is no Ahou signature. There isn't any Aho charge at all or depletion in the surrounding air. We have no idea how it's being powered."

Hannah's face tightened as her worry started to visibly fill her face.

Another technician turned his head towards Hannah, "We have a Seikijin team on standby, what should they do?"

"Send them in armed with knives or short swords. If it comes to it, we'll cut the boy out, but have them wait inside the coliseum for now, I'd rather not do anything rash until…." Hannah paused. She turned towards a different tech. "Lana, I need you to send a transmission to the headmistress. Is the Shtrayu coronation over yet?"

Lana pressed a few keys, and information filled her screen. She turned towards Hannah. "Hai. The coronation ended several hours ago, but there are no plans for the fleet of the Holy Land to leave the celebrations until tomorrow."

Hannah cursed. "Well, we'll just have to interrupt the good festivities. Send her a status report of everything that's going on. Ask her if we should try and get the boy out now, let whatever is happening run its course or whatever else she suggests"

Another tech turned towards Hannah. "What should we do in the meantime?"

Hannah thought for a second, before walking up to the central control console. She pressed a few buttons.

Her voice now transmitted to the entire campus. "Attention, Attention, as acting headmistress, I'm announcing the coliseum is now a restricted area to all students and staff until further notice. Stay at least one hundred meters away from the coliseum at all times. That is all." A few more button presses switched off the intercom.

She then spoke to the room as a whole. "Make sure we have someone, I don't care who, on the sensors at all time on watch. If someone tries to violate this quarantine, mobilize a Seikishi or part of the standard guard to detain them. Besides that, keep an eye on the coliseum. Is that understood?"

"Hai." A number of voices stated as they got to work.

As Hannah finished, she noticed Ceres and was reminded of his presence.

When he noticed he had her attention, Ceres spoke up. "I-I apologize Ms. Hannah."

Hannah turned around in confusion. "For what, kiddo?"

"It's my fault Shinji ended up in the Seikijin..." he stuttered. "I…take responsibility for my…"

Hannah lightly bobbed Ceres on the head. "None of that kiddo, you didn't know this would happen, I certainly didn't. Shinji obviously isn't a stowaway…and he isn't a typical Seikishi, so don't go blaming yourself over something you can't possibly predict." She stared at the screen. "Besides, we don't exactly know what's going on yet. I've never seen something like this occur during an activation…" She adopted a straight face. "Go on, kiddo. You've been accepted to the Holy Land Academy. There's a dorm room with your name on it, paperwork that has to be filled, and other legal gymnastics for you to perform. Classes start next week. Leave this strange business to the professionals. "

Ceres stood there for a few seconds. "H..Hai." With uncertainty, Ceres left the control room.

* * *

"_Did you tell me to pilot this just to make me suffer, Father?"_

"_Correct." _

"_That can't be true! It can't be! How can you say that? You don't need me, do you?"_

"_I called you because you had a use."_

"_Why me?"_

"_Because there was no one else who could." _

"_No way, I've never seen this before. It's impossible!"_

'_Correct, yet I know this to be true.'_

"_That's right! I already knew Eva! I already knew Eva! Then I ran away, leaving my father and mother behind!" _

* * *

Lithia Po Chiina, granddaughter of the Pope and president of the Holy Land Academy's student council, was currently hard at work at her desk inside her room on board her ship. It was now night in the capital of the Shtrayu Empire, and she had started work after the coronation's reception hours ago. Paper work, paper work, and more paper work adorned her desk, a tide of practically endless white pages with black specks of language.

She was a young woman with long strawberry blond hair. Her hair was in a long pony tail, her hair coming down to the same height her hands would be when at her sides. The front of her hair was divided into two tufts of hair set in front of her ears in such a way that they framed her face. Her grey eyes were obscured behind a pair of right-triangle shaped glasses. Two red bunches of ribbons were behind the tufts of hair, hanging off her glasses' ear pieces.

There was a knock on her door.

"Come in."

It was her assistant, Lapis Lars, a younger girl than herself who had very light green hair in a short style involving two prominent swirls near her forehead and tufts near her cheeks that were curved inwards. She had light brown, kind eyes.

"Lady Lithia, the Headmistress has requested your presence." Lapis said with worry.

Lithia gave her a confused glance. "Is something wrong?"

Lapis nodded. "There was an incident at the academy today."

Within ten minutes, Lithia and Lapis had departed from their own vessel and were on the Headmistress's, where they were led to the ship's conference room by the on board staff.

Outside the room, in the hallway, there were several attendants and guards from several different countries. Apparently, she wasn't the only one invited.

Lapis spoke up. "Lady Lithia, I'll wait here."

Lithia nodded.

As the door was opened for her, some of the more prominent members of the student council were there. She had only just sent the invitations a short while ago, and the council itself had not even had a formal meeting yet.

Sitting at the large table in the center of the room were several dignitaries: Headmistress of the Holy Land Academy, Princess Aura Shurifon of the Dark Elven Kingdom Shurifon, Princess Maria Nanadan of Kingdom Havoniwa, Lord Dagmeyr Mest, and the Princess-King Lashara Earth XXVIII of the Shtrayu Empire.

The Headmistress had grey hair, a wrinkled plump face, and rich brown eyes which seemed to be perpetually closed. She was at the end of the table, far side from the door.

Aura Shurifon had large pointed ears, long silver hair, dark skin, and blue eyes, which was common of the dark elves.

Maria Nanadan had medium length dark brown hair put into a pink and white bow behind her head, and slight turquoise eyes which leaned slightly more towards blue than green.

Dagmeyr Mest had short wavy blonde hair and blue calculating eyes.

Lashara Aasu, the person whose coronation was held this morning, had fairly long blond hair and light blue eyes. Her hair was divided into three separate tails. The one behind her back was the longest, and was tied with two bands, a purple band on the part of her hair in-between her shoulder blades, and near the end of the hair's length, a white cloth with a thin purple tie keeping it in place. The other two shorter tails each rested in front of her shoulders and both were also tied with purple bands.

As Lithia entered the room, the door was shut behind her. When she sat down in a vacant seat, the meeting began.

The Headmistress, whose usual calm smiling face was replaced by a worried look and a slight frown, spoke. "You're probably all wondering why I've called you here. I know tonight is one of celebration, but this was the only chance of all of us being present to have this meeting. Lady Lithia and I will be leaving for the Holy Land tomorrow, and I understand you all have your own plans on journeying there for the first week of the upcoming semester." She took a moment to take in a slow breath. "Instead of handling this myself, I thought the school council could use it as a learning experience, especially since it involves the Academy and a potential student. While this is…a truly bizarre event, one I can't relate to any other in my experience, it is still one that will help you learn how to approach future mishaps."

Princess-King Lashara looked thoughtful. "This happened only hours after our coronation. Is there any correlation between the two?"

Princess Maria snorted. "I see your ego is already at work."

Lashara folded her arms. "Please, it's obvious that our coronation is the biggest event of today. The official announcement on who will be ruling a country is no small matter."

Maria closed her eyes. "And you're getting ahead of yourself," she opened her eyes and gave Lashara a snide smile. "You're not old enough to be the official ruler just yet, remember? Lord Babalun is the Lord Regent of Shtrayu until you come of age."

"That is only a matter of time." Lashara grounded out. She then smiled. "And don't you forget, we'll be an emperor, while you'll still be a princess."

"My, you're so happy for someone whose rule was gained from the death of her parents." Maria stated with a triumphant smile.

Lashara for a brief instance had a hurt face.

Maria's face descended into shame for an instant as well.

Both quickly masked the emotion, regaining sarcastic visages

"It's better having dead parents than a living loon like Queen Flora." Lashara stated.

Maria's fake smile slowly left her face. "Well, we both can agree on that, dear cousin."

The voice of an elderly woman clearing her throat acquired the attention of the two young girls.

"Is this infantile display done now?"

Both blushed. "Hai, Ma'am." They stated in unison.

Lithia inwardly sighed. '_I see their reputations weren't exaggerated.'_

"To answer your previous question, Princess-King Lashara, no, there isn't any connection with the coronation. The incident seems entirely isolated." The Headmistress took a small gem and placed it into a slot of the table. A hologram burst into existence in the center of the table showing the center of the school coliseum, currently several hundreds of miles away in reality.

"Roughly three hours ago, the activation test for the male sacred mechamaster selection program was held."

The hologram showed the cocoon of a sacred mechanoid, along with three figures. One was Hannah, which everyone at the table knew was only second to the Headmistress in terms of command at the Academy. The other two figures were not known to them.

"Two candidates were present. Only one was selected."

"Was it a stowaway?" Lithia asked. "I remember hearing several people trying to enter the Holy Land through such a manner. They usually are ignorant of the screening processes though." She brought a hand to her chin. "It's amazing he managed to get that far…"

"That's what Miss Hannah thought at first as well, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The candidate we expected was Ceres Tyte."

The hologram displayed a zoomed in image on one of the figures, letting everyone at the table to clearly see who Ceres Tyte was.

"Ceres passed his activation exam, and it went unremarkably well. The other identified himself as Shinji Ikari."

The hologram exited out of the enhanced display of Ceres and focused on Shinji.

"This boy is why we're here."

Princess Aura raised an eyebrow. "What could he have possibly done to garner this much attention?" Her face tightened and her eyes narrowed. "Were people hurt?"

The Headmistress showed a face of alarm. "No, no, no. Not anything like that. There was no violence or spilling of blood, thank the goddesses." She sighed. The Headmistress poked the crystal in a very specific manner. The video fast forwarded past Ceres activating the Seikijin, up to the point where Shinji placed his hand on the device, and after another poke, the video resumed in real time.

"This is what he did."

The members of the table stared at the hologram. The boy had his hand on the Seikijin and nothing happened.

"Is that…it?" Emperor Lashara asked with a sweat drop on her face.

The Headmistress replied. "No. Just wait."

For roughly a minute, they watched as nothing happened.

Dagmeyr spoke up. "It's quite unusual for someone who's not a Seikishi to be able to tolerate Ahou exposure this long, even if it is minute compared to an activated Seikijin…"

The Headmistress nodded. "While true, that's the least of oddities here."

Dagmeyr furrowed his brow in befuddlement, as he focused back on the hologram.

They all heard Hannah speak. "I knew it…alright kiddo, come back over here."

They then saw the mysterious boy try to leave the cocoon's side, before nearly falling.

"My hand, it's-it's stuck!"

"Come on kid, stop wasting time. If you aren't a Seikishi, you'll wind up with Ahou poisoning for sure if you stay that close to a Seikijin!"

"I'm not joking."

Eyes widened as they witnessed what happened to the cocoon. A white band appeared around the boy's hand. It was unlike the normal activation band, which was ornate and had a specific design based on the person who touched it. This was just a solid color, and it didn't glow with light either, which also normally happened when the Seikijin accepted the Seikishi. Then a black band had appeared, touching and surrounding the white. Then a white band materialized around the black in a same fashion. Then a black, then a white, and so on until the cocoon were covered with them. The Sacred Mechanoid could no longer be seen underneath as the bands weren't transparent.

They all heard the boy mutter something they couldn't hear.

Princess Maria was the first to vocalize this. "What did he say?"

A few pokes of the crystal, and it repeated the last few seconds, enhancing the audio.

"It looks-looks like the twelfth angel..."

"Angeru?" Lashara asked. "What's an Angeru, and what does he mean by twelfth?"

The others were thinking thoughts on the same line.

"What the…?"

"Shinji!"

As they watched, the boy tried to yank himself free. After a few tries, he put his feet on the cocoon in order to put his full strength into his attempts at freedom. Those two feet became adhered in the same manner as his hand.

Where the boy was attached to the cocoon, an area of black formed overlapping the nearby white bands, and slowly, he started to sink inward.

"This can't be happening! Not again!" The boy shrieked. "Help me! Someone help me!"

Princess Maria covered her mouth with her hand in shock.

Dagmeyr commented while he looked on in morbid fascination, "Again? Has this happened before?"

The rest watched on with myriad reactions of shock, curiosity, and horror.

As the two people physically present when this happened, tried to run to his rescue, they crashed into several yellow-orange octagons, a small one inside a slightly larger one, and so on for several iterations.

"Someone help me! Help me! He—"

The boy was absorbed into the cocoon.

They then witnessed the cocoon hover slightly into the sky, the sound likened to a woman singing, and the appearance of a white halo above.

Suddenly, the hologram shut off. The witnesses kept their astonished faces as they turned towards the Headmistress.

"With that out of the way, let's begin." She sighed. "What should we do?"

* * *

Musical Muse: Neon Genesis Evangelion OST 2 - BORDERLINE CASE

* * *

"_Kindness…_

_Warmth…_

_Is this warmth part of being human?_

_I was never aware of it until now." _

"_What is loneliness?"_

"_I was never aware of it before, but now I think I know what it is." _

"_And what is happiness?"_

"_I didn't know what it was…but now I think I understand."_

"_Are others kind to you? Do you know?"_

"_They are." _

"_And why?"_

"_Because I am Eva's pilot. Because I pilot Eva, they treat me well. That is the reason I can exist. That is the everything to support my reason to be. It is the justification for my continued existence. Who and why I am. So, I must pilot Eva." _

"_Which means?"_

"_To fight! I have to fight the ones that they call our enemy!" _

"_And that means?"_

"_That I have to win! That's right, I can't lose. I must be the pilot. I must do what they tell me to do, and I've got to win! Just like they tell me to!_

_Otherwise…I'm nobody…_

_Nobody…_

_Nobody…"_

"_Work Hard."_

_"Work hard, Shinji."_

"_Get to work you stupid idiot." _

"_Yeah, work hard." _

"_You've got to work hard."_

"_Good job, Shinji." _

"_Misato, Ritsuko, Asuka, Toji, Kensuke, Father. They all respect me!_

_They respect me when I pilot the Eva, they all respect me! They respect this totally worthless being! They all tell me to pilot it so I'll…so I'll prove to my father that I'm worth something!"_

"_Work hard, Shinji."_

"_But I am working hard! I'm doing my best! I am! Somebody please, somebody be nice to me! I fought so hard. I've fought so much. I'm doing the best I can! Can't you be nice to me? Can't you treat me better? Why can't you be nice to me?!"_

"_I'm nice to you." _

"This…this has happened before. I remember it…I remember thinking these thoughts."

"Correct."

"Who…Who said that?"

The simultaneous voice of four people he instinctively knew replied. "Don't you remember Shinji?"

A white void appeared, and a naked Misato was in front of him.

"_Tell me, Shinji, do you want to become one with me? To be of one mind and body? It could be very, very nice. Ask me anytime. I'm ready."_

The naked Misato was replaced with a naked Asuka.

"_Hey. Shinji-idiot, don't you want to be one with me? To be of one mind and body? It would be really awesome. You ought to appreciate your good fortune. Come on."_

The naked Asuka was replaced with a naked Rei.

"_Ikari, do you want to become one with me? To be of one mind and body? It could be very pleasant. Ikari?"_

She disappeared. Misato was once again there.

"_Do you want to become one with me?" _

Then she vanished again, and Asuka rematerialized.

"_To be of one mind and body and soul?"_

Then Rei appeared after Asuka.

"_It could be very pleasant."_

Then all of them appeared at once, super-imposed over each other, and they spoke as one.

"_Relax and release your soul."_

"I…I remember this. Did…did I say yes? I don't remember..."

A recent memory flashed through him.

"_I can say this, Pilot Ikari, you and the large humanoid you call…an Evangeion will be…intimately connected for years to come. My employers told me to make sure of that," _Said a wet, raspy voice.

The white void was interrupted by flashes of green and a sound similar to electricity sparking from a Tesla coil. The white void then returned.

Shinji's face tightened. "No...I didn't say yes." Shinji spoke angrily. "He said yes for me..."

His voice turned from anger to confusion. "…and those aren't Misato, Rei, and Asuka anyways. Who are they? Who are they really?"

The four voices spoke again.

"Don't you remember?"

And then only voice spoke.

"Don't you remember what happened, Shinji?"

'_That voice….'_

"…Mother?"

* * *

In the coliseum, there were three eggs, each holding Seikijin inside of them.

One was floating in the air.

The other two were sitting calmly on the earth, their two female pilots sitting nearby, ready to act within a moment's notice.

"It's strange, isn't it?"

"Hm?"

"This event has caused such of an uproar, yet right now, right here, it's so…peaceful, beautiful even."

"...I guess so."

"If it weren't for the person inside there, I'd be fine with keeping this a permanent part of the coliseum, just like the Sacred Mechalord."

"The last thing this coliseum needs is another useless ornament, Keiko."

A few minutes passed.

"Do you think he's alright?"

"…."

"Well, do you, Tenora?"

"…I wouldn't hope on it."

"Why?"

"It's been five hours now. That's past the operation limits of most Seikishi. By now…he should be dead…or so close he'd be begging for it."

"…Don't say things like that. They didn't pick up any Aho energy signature. There's not even a drain on the Sea of Ena here."

"Where else do you think it's getting its power from? It has to be getting it from somewhere. Energy can't just be generated from nowhere."

"I don't know, but I know Ahou isn't involved. Otherwise, we wouldn't be waiting this long."

"…Well, if it isn't Ahou, and that kid does survive…his whole life is about to change."

There was a snicker. "To be a male Sacred Mechamaster is a high honor that will exalt a peasant to aristocracy and can bring entire families out of poverty. To be an elite male Seikishi with high endurance is to practically be royalty, and officially once married. To be special in a way beyond that…"

Tenora started to laugh, and she kept laughing for several seconds.

"What's so funny?"

She slowed down her laughs. "If this boy can really power Seikijin without needing the draft, he's practically going to have to live in a church due to all the political marriages…"

Keiko chuckled, and then started laughing as well.

"Am I interrupting something?" A slightly annoyed Hannah with her arms folded asked.

Behind the two Sacred Mechamasters, a small crystal on the ground was lit up, showing the control room. They immediately composed themselves. "Sorry Ma'am." They said in unison

Hannah sighed and waved it off. "Don't worry about it, but it's time."

The two Seikishi shared a glance, and then they looked back at Hannah.

"What are our instructions?" Tenora asked.

"Cut the boy out."

They nodded.

"Is that it?" Keiko asked.

Hannah nodded. "Short and simple."

They turned towards each of their own eggs.

"Oy, you two will very shortly be on a live feed with the headmistress back and part of the student council in Shtrayu, so keep it professional."

They nodded, and each placed their hands on a green cocoon.

* * *

Neon Genesis Evangelion OST 3 - Mother is the First Other

* * *

'_That voice…'_

'_This scent…' _

'_They both…belong to my mother…' _

"_Second Impact has occurred. Must he live in this hell?_

"_Anywhere can be heaven, as long as you try to live._

_Because he has a life, as long as he lives, he will have the chance to attain happiness."_

"_Of course, you're right."_

'_Mother…'_

"_Have you decided yet?"_

"_If it's a boy, Shinji. If it's a girl, I'll name the baby Rei."_

"_Shinji… Rei… Good names." _

'_Mother…'_

'_These are my memories, my memories of mother._

_"Why is there a child in here?" _

'_No! Not this one!'_

_"That's Commander Ikari's son." _

'_Please, not this one!'_

"_Ikari, this isn't a daycare center. This is a very important day!"_

'_I don't want to remember this. I don't!' _

"_I'm sorry, Professor. I'm the one who brought Shinji here." _

_"Yui, this is your experiment today."_

"_That's why I brought him. I want to show him how bright the future will be."_

Images flashed through his mind, images of a purple giant's green eyes suddenly opening, a radiant red orb coming to life, his father screaming and crying as he banged onto a pane of glass, and the dead stare of a white creature with seven eyes.

Suddenly, he was back on the train, orange sunlight yet again filling his vision, across from him, his younger self was crying, holding his father's...no his mother's SDAT player. It may have been a gift from his father, but it was originally his mother's. 2004. The year his mother died, the year his father discarded him, and the year he first saw the Eva.

"Don't you understand now Shinji?"

Shinji looked around wildly. "That voice again….Mother? But…you can't be my Mother! You can't! My mother died! Father killed her!"

The last memory quickly flashed into his head again, again, and again, repeating into a loop.

Shinji put his hands to his temples from the pain.

"Stop it! Please, stop it! I don't want to remember it! I don't want to! I don't want to!"

His younger self, spoke through a sobbing voice. "You mustn't run away. You mustn't run away."

"Why not? It hurts. Isn't it natural to run away from pain?!"

His younger self wiped his red, puffy eyes, and reined back his tears. "Running away will only alleviate the pain temporarily. You are just postponing the problem and avoiding it. You resolve nothing."

"But if I run away, it will stop hurting now!"

A memory flashed into his head.

"_You have been shutting your eyes and covering your ears, making yourself blind and deaf to that which you wish to avoid."_

Flash. The events of 2004. Flash. An image of his mother. Flash. An image of Eva. Flash. The events of 2004. Flash. An image of his mother. Flash. An image of Eva. Flash. The events of 2004. Flash. An image of his mother. Flash. An image of Eva. Flash. The events of 2004. Flash. An image of his mother. Flash. An image of Eva. Flash. The events of 2004. Flash. An image of his mother. Flash. An image of Eva.

Shinji tightened the grip on his head.

"Don't you understand yet Shinji?" The voice of his _dead_ mother asked.

Flash. The smell of his mother. Flash. Sudden light and warmth in a cold Entry Plug. Flash. "Well that's good for you." Flash. The smell of his mother. Flash. Sudden light and warmth in a cold Entry Plug. Flash. "Well that's good for you." Flash. The smell of his mother. Flash. Sudden light and warmth in a cold Entry Plug. Flash. "Well that's good for you." Flash. The smell of his mother. Flash. Sudden light and warmth in a cold Entry Plug. Flash. "Well that's good for you."

Shinji slowly loosened his grip as realization slowly trickled into him.

"My mother isn't dead…"

Like a pane of glass in both sound and appearance, the train roof cracked.

An image appeared to him. He remembered seeing it before, an image of light reflecting off water, distinctly blue in color. After the Eva was in Leliel, and when he was going to be killed by Zeruel.

"My mother…."

The floor of the train cracked like glass.

"The Eva…"

The wall behind him cracked.

"I understand now."

The wall behind his younger self cracked.

He immediately stood up. "My mother is alive, and she is alive inside Evangelion Unit 01!"

The entire background cracked apart and ruptured. There was a flash of white.

The sound of birds chirping could be heard, the sound of water trickling by in a river, and the smell of Spring.

"Where…where am I?"

A voice spoke behind him.

"Hello, Shinji."

He turned around.

A tear fell down his cheek.

"Mom…"

* * *

Two students from the Holy Land Academy, both female, were doing something they, of course, weren't supposed to be doing. Both were currently, under the cover of night, sneaking closer and closer to the coliseum.

"We really shouldn't be out here, Lucca!"

"Oh, put a sock it in Kimiko. A random quarantine notice? The coliseum being put off limits for the near future, this close to the beginning of school? There's something going on and I want in on it!"

"We could get in trouble!" she whispered.

"Only if someone sees us…

We're off the sensor grid, like I've already told you a dozen times. My mother works at the Barrier Workshop and taught me almost everything she knows. I'm a Sacred Mechamechanic after all. Just keep the scrambler crystal close to you, and we'll be fine."

Kimiko sighed.

The coliseum itself was sunken into the ground. The tallest seating area was below that of most of the campus grounds. So, as they neared the crater that was the coliseum, they got down into a crawl, slowly and carefully peeking over the wall, as they looked into the pit.

They saw a strange white and black Seikijin cocoon floating in the air with a glowing white halo above it. They then saw two Seikijin activated floating near the cocoon. One was obviously a Dark Elven pilot from the green colors making up the sacred mechanoid, and the odd white and brown feathers here and there. The other Seikijin was just orange and very average looking. Both were armed with daggers.

"Oh, I am definitely recording this." Lucca said, as she brought out a small device that involved several lenses. It looked much like a miniature spyglass, yet there was no outer wooden frame, and it held with a crystal at the end closest to her, which was used as the data storage for the odd recording device.

She aimed the device and started recording.

"What do you think that is?" asked Kimiko.

Lucca elbowed her. "Shut up, and we'll find out!"

The arena's intercom powered on, and Hannah's voice bled through the speakers.

"Begin the operation."

At that order, the two Seikijin flew towards the cocoon slowly and carefully with their hands out. As soon as they were close enough, the outlines of orange octagons once again appeared.

"It's like a solid wall…" Keiko stated through her Sacred Mechanoid's audio amplifiers. She then stabbed the octagon wall with her knife. As soon as it connected, it was brought to a dead stop as the field generated some weird noise. The octagons were still present, but the area around the blade was shining with orange light in all directions. After a few seconds, she pulled back, and tried again. The blade stopped when it touched the field once more. The noise and light phenomenon happened again.

The other Seikijin, the dark elf piloted one, rotated around to the other side of the egg. "Maybe if the shield is on that side, this area will be unprotected…." Tenora stated out loud. She then backed up a little, and accelerated forward in a dash with her blade in front. She slammed into another field of octagons. "No good. It's protected from both sides…"

"Keep trying you two, maybe the shield will die out eventually under duress," Stated Hannah over the intercom.

A few dozen meters away, two students watched intently as the two kept stabbing the orange walls of light.

A few hundred meters below, both somewhat down and across, the technicians and the substitute headmistress within the control room were also attentively observing, as well as the headmistress of the academy and the most dignified members of the student council hundreds of kilometers away.

* * *

"…You're alive." Shinji muttered. "You're actually alive."

The vision of Yui just smiled fondly at him.

Shinji sunk down to the ground. "And you're the Eva, its will and soul is yours. When Eva went berserk, that was you. You were protecting me…" Tears started to come loose from his eyes as he closed tight. "And when I said I never wanted to pilot Eva again, I…I…I was abandoning you!" He sobbed. "Just like father abandoned me…"

Yui frowned.

"Like father, like son…" Shinji muttered grimly.

He was pulled up onto his feet, and drawn into a hug. "Shinji, don't think like that. You didn't abandon me." She sighed. "If anyone abandoned you, it was me..."

"What do you mean by that?" Shinji asked.

The sound of a large thud permeated the dreamscape.

Yui looked off into space, as if she was focusing on something. "You'll need to wake up soon. The process is almost finished."

The background started to slowly fade.

"…But…but I just…"

Yui focused back on her son. "Shinji, we will see each other again real soon. If what the pale man said and did was true, both of us are now safe from the machinations of Seele for the time being. For that, he has my gratitude."

"…Seele?"

Another large thud permeated the dreamscape, and the background almost faded into a black void.

"As such, the true purpose of Evangelion Unit 01 as the catalyst for Third Impact will not be fulfilled, and the race for the sublimation of humanity into divinity is halted, if for a short season. As long as we are here, the Doors to Guf will remain closed. Now that the threat of death and rebirth is gone and you are beyond the reach of the committee, there is no longer a need for you to be ignorant of the plan which threatens to unravel the future, the Human Instrumentality Project. "

"Mother…I don't understand."

Now, only they remained, floating in an endless black nothing.

"You'll know soon, Shinji. You'll know soon." She smiled. "But for now, it's time to wake up."

There was another large thud, and the dreamscape was now fully a black void.

* * *

"It's not working," Said a panting Keiko. "We can't get through this damn thing." She looked at the giant knife in her Mechanoid's hands, already cracked severely. She looked behind her, at the small pile of broken and shattered daggers, and sighed.

"At this rate, we'll break all the knives in the Holy Land," said the Dark Elf Tenora. Her Seikijin was holding just a hilt, the blade just recently having completely shattered from the force of her blow on the orange wall of light. Behind her was also a pile of broken weapons, many more than the other girl's as well. She growled. "The damn thing isn't even scratched.

Currently at the Shtrayu capital, the Holy Land Academy's headmistress sighed. "Any other ideas?"

The student council members all thought to themselves. They were all looking rather stumped over the issue.

Princess Maria sighed. "Perhaps we can requisition the Barrier Workshop for assistance? Something like this is certainly more up their alley."

The Headmistress nodded. "That's a wonderful suggestion. How fast could you get an en—"

A voice interrupted her, originating from the feed of the Campus control room. "Something's happening!"

All the people in the room focused back on the hologram.

"What's going on Lana?" Hannah asked.

"We can detect that the egg has started Ahou consumption, and can now actively scan the surface of the cocoon…" She widened her eyes. "The Seikijin, it's activating!"

* * *

Musical Muse: Neon Genesis Evangelion OST 2 - THE BEAST II

* * *

In the coliseum, the sound of what could only be described as flesh tearing and stretching was heard. The white outlines on the egg shifted wildly around the surface of the cocoon. Soon, the white bands faded away, leaving only a black pure egg, and after that, the halo above it slowly disappeared.

The egg slightly contracted. A slight bulge on the side slowly appeared.

In the sound of flesh tearing, a large purple hand ripped through the bulge, and a torrent of blood sprayed out. Some of the hot liquid slowly trickled down the side of the egg, before falling and collecting into a pool underneath the floating cocoon.

The dozens of eyes witnessing the event, from several meters to hundreds of kilometers away, were in awe. There were several gasps, a few screams, and other exclamations of surprise between them all.

The door to the conference room on a ship in the capital Shtrayu was immediately busted open. A red haired woman with a sword, along with several other worried attendants and guards, ran in.

"What's wrong-g…." She slowly stopped speaking as she saw the screen, as did the people behind her.

The purple hand gripped one side of the tear, and another hand came into appearance, gripping the other side. The entire egg was full of cracks, and its structure was wobbling as red fluid poured from the multiple wounds it carried.

Slowly, a head exited the hole its own hands had ripped open from the inside of the egg. It had a horn on its equivalent of a forehead, two white glowing slants for eyes, and a rather extended jaw and a mouth full with red teeth. There were also two box-like objects on the side of its face under the eyes, behind the mouth, that looked like some kind of speakers. It was entirely wet from the crimson jets, still gushing out of the egg.

The head slowly came past its hands, as the creature pulled itself partially out of the egg. As its torso became visible, it pushed itself up, displaying that it did not have the typical Seikijin torso. Instead of having the typical control area, generally similar to the standard pale green cocoon right at the chest, this purple humanoid had a small red sphere near its solar plexus, with two even smaller red spheres underneath it. Two pylons extending from its shoulders also garnered attention. It raised its head up, and opened its mouth.

A sound came out of its mouth. It wasn't just a shriek or a scream. It was as if someone took a wail of excruciating pain and a roar of an animal that just killed its prey, and perfectly mixed the two, and it echoed across the entire Holy Land Academy. It was a death-scream and a birth-wail in one.

In the control center, Hannah just gazed onto the screen. "What…what is that kid?"

Suddenly past it's breaking point, the entire egg shattered, and exploded. A tide of blood and the fleshy remains of the ebony egg scattered in all directions.

As the giant landed, red droplets continued to fall on top of it from above. With its mouth slightly closed now, it let out a high-pitched howl. Shortly, the blood rain stopped, and the purple giant stood at its full height.

Evangelion Unit 01 had awakened.

* * *

The black void cleared as Shinji slowly opened his eyes.

'_Where…where am I?'_

Around him was the coliseum from earlier today, only it was night now, but several things were off.

'_Why is it so much smaller now….and why is there blood everywhere!?' _

He looked slightly down and saw someone wearing green armor armed with a dagger. They were slowly backing up, and covered in blood as well.

'_Wait…that's not a person in armor. That's the thing Ceres was in…but why is it so small?'_

Shinji raised his hand and looked down at it.

The blood stained purple hand of Shogouki, Unit One, greeted his vision.

His breathing quickened.

Eva's breathing quickened.

His heart started to beat faster.

Eva's heart started to beat faster.

He screamed.

Eva screamed.

The black void quickly returned to his vision, and then he felt himself falling...falling…falling…

* * *

Author's Notes:

You know, I really wanted to play around with the alignment, so I could have several of the voices be stated in a different way, so you could differentiate the speaker in the surreal segments, but it didn't exactly pan out after transferring the chapter from DocX to Story.

I might be able to edit it in, but we'll see if it works or not.

Also, what's your thoughts on Musical Muse? Hate it? Love it?

Let's reply to reviews.

"Mattman324

So if this is going to be a Tenchi Muyo! crossover, is Shinji going to end up like Kazuki from Dual!? Because Kazuki is basically a REALLY well adjusted Shinji..."

I'm not quite sure. Kazuki and Shinji have quite a bit of difference from what I can see in the first three episodes of Dual. There are many similarities though between the two series, and I haven't even gotten to Zinv yet, so I'll reply to this later in full, after I finish watching the series. I knew it was a part of the Tenchi Muyo! multiverse and that it was based on Evangelion, but I never really explored it before. I will say thank you for giving me the push of intrigue to go and watch the series, next chapter, I shall reply to this in more detail, so please be patient.

"Rc1212

Interesting story idea.

I look forward to seeing where this goes!"

Thanks for the support!

I'll get to the next chapter soonish.

OMAKE:

"No! I must kill the angels!" he shouted  
Yui said "No, Shinji. You are the angels."  
And then Shinji was an Evangelion.


	3. Aftermath and Awakening

Disclaimer: This story is made purely for entertainment and not for any monetary gain. The characters used within this story belong purely to those who created them. Please support the official stories and the authors' that created them, because without them, fan-fiction wouldn't be possible.

EDIT: This is a revision of this chapter. Here's a helpful hint. Never publish a chapter you've edited while having a migraine. You'll only have to edit it again later. No changes in content if you've already read it, just a fix here and there.

MM: Cruel Angel Thesis

"_Zankoku na tenshi no te-ze  
Madobe kara yagate tobitatsu  
Hotobashiru atsui patosu de  
Omoide wo uragiru nara  
O-zora wo daite kagayaku  
Shonen yo, shinwa ni nare"_

* * *

The room was dark.

The only light illuminating anything was the slight white ambiance emitting from a stone throne.

The throne itself was rather simple. It was set only on a two-step high square platform against a wall.

However beyond just lighting, other parts of the room conspired to make the throne its most important aspect.

The design on the wall, for instance, behind the throne started at its peak, very high above the floor, with two lines going diagonally down both left and right from its starting point; this starting point being in the very center of where the throne lied below.

They continued for a few meters, before stopping and going straight down, a longer distance than they had been going diagonally. They stopped, and went diagonally again, the left side continuing its journey left, and the right side, continuing its journey right, both perfectly symmetrical from one another.

After several more meters, they stopped as they finally hit the floor, where they continuing creating a mirror image of the design, in which the two lines joined into one point once more.

This design was repeated within itself, with each one having a unique appearance, either with arches within the shape, or diagonal lines connecting one outer design to the inner, and so on. The colors that made up this design were different light shades of white, grey, and brown.

However, none of these designs were worthy enough to actually touch the throne.

Behind the throne directly was a red shape. At the top of it, roughly three meters above the throne, it was a half circle, where the lines, instead of completing a circular shape, went down into the floor. The design repeated itself once unlike the other lines upon the wall. Inside the red shape at about a third of the size, laid a red copy with a slight black outline, and a larger white boarder beyond that. Connecting both shapes' peaks was an even smaller version of the shape.

Under all of these pretentious lines and shapes, in the midst of the only lighting in the room, on the throne itself, a wizened white-bearded man sat. He was clothed in a red robe outlined in gold, with a red vest and a white lower garment underneath it.

While he was on the throne, and illuminated from the unknown source of the ambiance, the way he sat prevented anyone from seeing his eyes or the lower half of his face, as they were swallowed in darkness.

Several robed figures stood in two rows facing each other, each made up with four persons. Between them, a path to the throne and the man who sat on it existed. They were all wearing dark grey robes, which connected to tall, simple mitres of the same color.

The mitres main distinguishing feature was the white line in the very center of the hat that went down and connected to the horizontal white border which touched those who wore its forehead, obscuring their hair from the world, and prevented the small amount of light from displaying their eyes.

There was an extra robed figure, kneeling directly across from the man on the throne, at the far end of the two walls of anonymous men and women. Their head was bowed.

While their eyes could not see it, the obscured eyes of everyone else in the room scanned the image of a bloody purple giant, in their midst.

"What kind of Seikijin _is_ that?"

"Obviously, one that isn't. It had no Ahou reactors. The piloting sphere was smaller and red. It was several meters taller than the tallest Seikijin on record. It had a mouth. It even _breathed._ It may have come from a Seikijin cocoon, but whatever this…this thing is; it is not a Holy Machine."

"What else could it be? When its Seikishi became unconscious, it reverted back into a Seikijin Cocoon."

"You mean a cocoon filled with flesh and blood? The base Seikijin was there, but it only was in looks, it wasn't normal anymore! It was bleeding, and its metal became flesh! The limbs were snapped in several places from the strain, and the head was liquefied! It was only a basic model, whatever happened to it to make it become that…thing…was solely the pilot's fault!"

An old, mature voice spoke from the throne. "Where is the Seikijin cocoon currently?"

A female voice answered. "It's only a two days' travel away, on a vessel from the Holy Land for analysis and repair here, your eminence."

"And the boy, is he still asleep at the Academy hospital?"

"Yes, your grace, but he's in a stable condition."

Another robed voice spoke. "It's been two days...shouldn't we induce consciousness?"

"No. The boy's life isn't in immediate danger yet. Let him recover naturally."

"But what about his night terrors? Won't those cause damage in the long term?"

"We will let the Holy Land's physicians come to a decision on that." He sighed. "Anymore thoughts on what he…conjured?"

"…Could it be a Seikishin? Could he have created one?" A younger man asked.

There was a laugh from another robed man. "A Sacred Mechalord? Those are built…not," he looked at the image with a slightly frightened and pale face, "…not birthed, and it definitely isn't a Seikijin, not a typical one at least, yet it was hatched as all Seikijin are…formed by the soul and genetics of its Seikishi."

"It doesn't have a tail. It couldn't be very powerful. It's just an oddity gaining more attention than it should rightfully deserve." An old man's voice spoke.

"I believe you're mistaken. This obviously doesn't conform to the standard rules. This is not a Seikijin. Who knows what it could do? If those energy fields the cocoon deployed are a part of its capabilities…" She slowly stopped speaking. "What kind of boy can make a Seikijin bleed _human_ blood? What kind of lineage can turn a Sacred Mechanoid intosuch a creature?" An older woman's voice asked rhetorically.

For a minute, silence filled the room.

"How many people are aware of this event?" The man on the throne asked.

"The "Birth of the Sacred Beast," as it has been labeled, practically everyone in the world knows." Beside the clear image of the bloody purple humanoid, a slightly fuzzier image appeared. It was from a higher angle, and it was clear from the slight shaking, that this was a hand-held recorder. It stopped playing only after the mechanoid deactivated and the unconscious boy was pulled free from the cocoon, easily getting a clean shot of his face.

"Two students, who broke quarantine, recorded the event and spread copies amongst the student body." He paused and took a slow breath. "The students showed their friends and family, and the video just kept spreading." He shook his head. "The boy has already garnered so much attention…"

"What country has his allegiance?" The voice from the throne asked.

"Unknown."

"We've already received dozens of envoys on the clarification on where his allegiance lies…"

"Yes, your grace, but given what we know from the investigation, our current hypothesis is that the boy is from another world…"

A few murmurs filled the room.

"Impossible." A crotchety voice spoke after a long pause. "He's obviously too young to have been summoned."

"The boy wasn't summoned. It is more likely he was sent here."

The murmuring grew in sound.

The man on the throne spoke in surprise. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"The scanning data from two days ago; the campus sensors detected him simply appearing into existence on board the ship responsible for delivering the selected male candidates for this year's activation test."

The image of the vessel in a holographic representation replaced the images of the purple giant, along with a paused timestamp.

There were six yellow dots around the ship.

As the timestamp started, the yellow dots started to scurry around the ship in different directions.

After a few seconds, a new yellow dot came into existence in the empty back cabin.

A few other panels of information sprung into life, showing a decrease in temperature, an increase in static electricity, the slightest change of gravity, and even the slight change of the light speed constant.

"Accompanying his appearance were the tell-tale signs of a summoning, just with the lack of a ceremony, build-up, and incubation period."

"…Sensors can be fooled, just as those girls with the recorder fooled them." The crotchety voice hesitantly replied.

"Yes, with devices created by the child of a Barrier Workshop engineer. No such device or anything similar was found on the boy, or on the vessel after it was searched. In fact, the one piece of technology found on him is clearly an otherworld design."

The image of a small black rectangular box connected to something likened to thin black rope ending in odd half-sphere objects wrapped around it appeared. It had a few ineligible symbols on it.

"What does it do?"

"It only plays music."

There was silence in the room for a few seconds.

"Verify the data." The red robed man stated.

"My grace, the data has already been verified, by myself and others."

"There's nothing wrong with absolute certainty. Send the data to the Barrier Workshop. Have them confirm it."

There was the slightest tinge of reluctance in one of the robed figure's face, before he obliged. "Yes, your grace."

"If the boy was sent here…then he is the master of his own destiny. There is no legal precedence for this. If no country summoned him, then no country has any right to him." He smiled slightly. "If the data is correct, the choice of the future is his alone."

There were a few quiet whispers and fewer slow nods at that comment.

"What is next on the agenda?"

"An event taking place during King Lashara's pilgrimage, your eminence." A female voice spoke.

A holographic image of a landmass flying through the sky, consisting of a mansion, a few trees, and a river, replaced all the former images.

It displayed several Seikijin in combat. What was of specific note was the white one armed with a katana.

Soon, the combat died down after the white one gained the upper hand over a pink Seikijin, after it overloaded its Ahou reactors and partially turned black.

After a few minutes, after the white mechanoid claimed victory, the hologram shut down.

"Our informant aboard the Swan sent us this, along with a confirmation that the assassination attempt failed, along with something unsettling. The Seikishin aboard the vessel moved."

There was an awkward silence.

"So Lord Babalun has finally made his move. Who do you think will win?"

"Don't sound so nonchalant! He is too dangerous!" The crusty voice from earlier replied.

"It will merely be a civil war if no one contacts the other countries." There was a pause. "It's hardly uncommon when there is a shift in power. More importantly…"

The voice from the throne spoke. "Yes, the problem lies with the Sacred Mechalord. Several hundred years have passed since we excavated it, yet it has never shown the slightest movement until now."

He looked up and stared at the silent kneeling figure directly ahead of him.

"Your role has become quite grave."

The figure stood up, revealing the lower half of her feminine face and some of her pink hair.

"You know what to do?"

"Yes, your grace." She answered.

"And beyond that, keep an eye on this new one, will you?"

"Yes, your grace."

He nodded. "You're dismissed."

She bowed, turned around, and slowly walked out of the room.

* * *

"Shinji?"

Can you hear me Shinji?

Shinji? Shinji!?"

Yui Ikari could see nothing, feel nothing, and hear nothing. She knew that somehow, she was now within her son's mind, no longer within Eva's core. Yet unlike with Eva, this time she was lucid, but unlike earlier, Shinji wasn't here.

She was by herself, and luckily, still herself.

Suffice to say, she was immensely glad to be out of that red orb, but also immensely worried at the same time

Before this _unique_ situation, she had just managed to complete her goals.

The 14th angel actually was very helpful in that regard. Without it, Eva Unit 01 would only become the catalyst under Seele's direction, most likely after they had disposed of all unnecessary elements.

Which in their eyes, she knew, included Shinji…

Now that Eva was awakened from its bonds and now that it had a super solenoid organ from an Angel itself, Eva Unit 01 was ready.

For Shinji's sake.

….Then some alien business man waves his hands and everything comes grinding to a halt.

Yui actually thought it was hilarious, absolutely and entirely comical. If she had a body, she's pretty sure she'd rupture an artery from how much she would laugh. Eva Unit 01 suddenly disappearing? The primary catalyst that all their dreams were placed on? Seele must have collectively shat their pants at the news. Sure, they could probably carry on with the other Evas using Lilith, but she knew Eva Unit 01 was the most precious of the Evangelions for their plans and that her husband was already in the prime position to sabotage those plans.

This will teach them to completely rely on their beloved scrolls.

She took a moment of wistful contemplation.

…She really wished she could have seen their faces. Imagining it alone was entertaining enough but...

Yui calmed herself down and focused.

What to do now? This wasn't a permanent vacation, but how long would it last? Whatever the case may be, she did know one thing. There was nothing to impede it anymore. Shinji deserved to know, and he deserved to know everything. It was his right.

But how to do that? She still didn't understand why she was like this.

She should have melded with Shinji completely, as that should have occurred from her understanding of the metaphysical biology involved. They should have become an amalgam being, neither Shinji nor Yui, but the product of the two. She was grateful that didn't happen, but Shinji was reduced to LCL and was flowing around in Eva's core. Both his soul and hers, for a brief time, were connected, yet the intimate existence, the one desired by the human instrumentality project, didn't occur. They were still their individual beings, even as their LCL freely mixed.

The only thing that was new besides Shinji's soul was the S2 organ that she had integrated into Unit 01's core. Could an S2 engine keep individual souls from coalescing into one being in that state?

Then again, what could it not do? It was capable of ignoring the conservation of mass and energy. It was a bottomless well of power, limited only by the rate which the Eva could draw upon that power.

"Damn…" Yui missed her equipment. In her current form, she could only theorize, but even if she did, the S2 was something that Dr. Katsuragi would understand more than her…and that mind was gone forever…for now at least.

She did the mental equivalent of a sigh.

The fact of the matter, Shinji and herself were kept separated, somehow, before and after that…business man, meddled with everything.

Perhaps he did it? He managed to easily manipulate Shinji, herself, and the Eva's matter and souls in such an intricate way, without using any form of AT field…

But if he…or, well, it would probably be more correct, could keep them separate, why only do so when Shinji entered Eva's Core? Why not whisk them away as soon as Eva finished devouring the angel a month earlier?

In any matter, that entity did something beyond even what Seele wanted.

Eva Unit 01 and Shinji were now one being.

He managed to manipulate not only Shinji's body from its LCL state and his soul while it was in the core, but he also managed to reduce the Evangelion's particle-wave matter and the S2 engine as well into Shinji, somehow, without damaging anything.

The precision was amazing. Absolutely unbelievable…

Even an Anti-AT field couldn't reduce any piece of particle-wave matter into something like that.

Ironically enough, Shinji was now the epitome of what Seele wanted…well, even beyond that. They merely wanted a body…an existence that would allow them to thwart death, a way to exist forever more, no matter what the cost.

They would take either living within the Evas, using their new immortal bodies as their own, or the complementation of humanity into one being. Either way, they would get what they want.

Shinji managed to gain that…while keeping his own body as well, while keeping his individuality, and the best part, without the cost that Third Impact would demand of all other life.

Her son now had the body of god and the mindset of man fused into one.

Yet, while Eva and Shinji were one, she and Shinji were separate. While she was relieved by that….she didn't know how it was possible.

Then again, she didn't think beings like that…entity, could exist either.

If she could frown, she would.

This entity wasn't interested solely in Eva. It was interested in Shinji foremost. With its abilities, it could easily find any person to meld with an Eva, but it, by its choice, melded it with Shinji.

What did this thing want with her son, and why?

She pushed her thoughts away from her internal musing, and focused them back on finding Shinji.

"Shinji! Shinji!"

* * *

MM: Neon Genesis Evangelion OST 1- Marking Time Waiting for Death

* * *

Ahead of her, a small light appeared, as if there was a crack in this void.

Just like the last time.

She didn't know how, but by her desire, she came closer and closer to it, and when reached it, the black void parted. All of her senses rushed back to her, and what she saw immediately alarmed her.

Around her was an orange soaked landscape, and the setting sun was hanging in the sky in front of her.

However, she was mainly focused on what was coming towards her. Small trickles of her own hazy memory of this event confirmed what she feared.

A black Evangelion was slowly stepping towards her.

Then she noticed that her field of vision was being slightly obscured by metal frames and a transparent orange HUD here and there in the corners of her vision.

If she had eyes, they would have widened.

She wasn't reliving her foggy memory of this tragedy, she wasn't seeing directly through Eva's eyes. She was seeing the world through the camera feed in the Entry Plug. She was seeing this from Shinji's perspective.

"Shinji! Shinji! Can you hear me Shinji? Can you hear me!?"

He didn't respond. He couldn't hear her.

"Unit Zero is heavily damaged. The pilot is wounded."

"Oh no…" Shinji quietly muttered.

She then heard her husband's voice.

"The target is approaching you Unit 01. Contact in twenty seconds. You must destroy it."

"But this target isn't just an angel."

The black giant kept advancing, step by thunderous step.

"There's somebody inside it, isn't there…"

Step. Step. Step. Step. Step.

"Another kid, just like me…"

Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. The Angel stood still.

Yui could feel her son's hand twitching around the controls, she could feel his apprehensiveness, and she could feel his unsteady breathing leaving his throat.

Then something rather surreal happened. Unit 03's head became liquid, folded in on itself, and slowly morphed into a more human visage.

It became the face of Toji Suzahara. She recognized him as the boy that Shinji saved during the Fourth Angel attack, and she would discover just who the pilot of the Eva was when Shinji did. She could still remember her son's scream…

That's when Yui realized this wasn't just a memory. She was a silent passenger to Shinji's nightmares.

Toji's face melted back into the form of Unit 03's head. It reared back and screamed.

The angel controlled giant bent down and leapt towards Unit 01. In the air, it flipped over, with its feet extended to greet Unit 01. With a heavy slam as the kick connected, Unit 01 was sent to the ground.

Unit 03 landed in a crouch, all of its limbs on the ground.

Shinji groaned and looked back at Unit 03. "An entry plug! I knew it! I knew there was someone in there!"

Unit 03 threw its arms towards Unit 01's throat. The arms extended over twice their length, making a sickening stretching noise. As the hands reach their destination, they began to squeeze.

Shinji's airway was being closed off. Yui could feel actual hands around her son's throat, squeezing and crushing it. It felt as if it was her throat.

Unit 03 pushed Unit 01 back into a hill, and pinned it there as it tried to choke the life out of the purple titan.

"Unit 01's life support system is failing!"

"Unit life functions are in danger!"

"Damn it! Cut our pilot's synch ratio down to sixty percent!"

"Belay that."

"But-but Ikari? If we don't, the pilot could be killed."

"Shinji, why aren't you fighting?"

"I can't…there's still a person inside that thing."

The burning pain increased as the grip became stronger.

"Irrelevant. It's an angel. Destroy our enemy."

"I can't…if he's alive; we've got to help him! I can't kill another human being!"

"It's him or you."

"No! I'd rather die!"

After that, the strength of the hold had completely shut off Shinji's throat. He couldn't breathe. Yui couldn't breathe.

"Damn it. Shut down all of Unit 01's synchronization circuits immediately."

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Shut them down?!"

"Correct. Switch all control to the Dummy Plug System."

"But sir, the Dummy Plug isn't fully operational yet! Dr. Akagi hasn't approved its use!"

"**It's still better than the current pilot!** **Do it!**"

"…Yes sir."

Suddenly, Yui felt relief as her son's throat was no longer constricted. Shinji fell forward, and gasped for breath. The entire viewport of the entry plug shut down replacing the landscape and the angry visage of the angel controlled Eva with darkness. The only illumination was the green emergency light hanging directly above Shinji. He took in a few more breaths. After only a few seconds, the viewport powered back on, and the entire Entry plug was bathed in red lighting, an audible thrum filled Shinji's ears, coming from behind him. He turned towards it.

Yui saw what it was through Shinji's eyes. The glowing words "OPERATION DUMMY SYSTEM REI."

"What's going on?"

Shinji turned back to the front.

"What the hell are you doing Father!?"

Voices creaked through the Entry Plug's speakers.

"Signal reception is green."

"Control system switching is complete."

"All nerves linked to the dummy system."

"Thirty two point eight percent of emotional elements are unclear. It can't be monitored."

"Sir?"

Yui heard her husband's cold voice.

"Irrelevant. Engage the system. Commence attack."

* * *

-MM: Evangelion 2.0 SoundTracks 11 - Kyou no Hi wa Sayounara

* * *

Eva Unit-01's eyes glowed red.

Its hands opened, and Unit One slowly began to stand. Eva Unit 03 tried to keep the Test-Type down, but couldn't stop it.

Unit 01 raised its arms. Its purple hands then surged towards the black giant's throat.

Cracking… Crunching...Cracking.

"My god, is this what the dummy plug is for?"

"Gain is still increasing."

Crunching...Cracking…Crunching. SNAAAAAAP. Black arms slowly fell as they went limp.

Unit 01 kept squeezing, before it lifted the dead weight into the air.

A hard thunderous thud echoed, as a body was thrown to the ground by the hands gripping its broken neck.

A purple fist reared back, and was let loose. Eva Unit 03's head, in that instant, morphed again into Toji's image. Blood was slightly leaking out of his mouth.

His face disappeared in a wet crimson explosion as the punch ruptured Eva Unit 03's skull. An eyeball and part of a jaw were sent flying off into the distance.

The voice of a boy overlapped all other sounds. The other boy Shinji saved from the 4th Angel. "Toji was real sorry about everything…."

A purple hand gripped the black giant's rib-cage armor and began to tug. Creaking. Creaking. Creaking. Riiiiip! A piece of the black giant's torso armor was torn free and thrown aside like trash.

"…His kid sister really tore him a new one…"

Flesh ripping. Bones snapping. Flesh tearing. Bones breaking. Blood splattering. Flesh splitting. Bones chipping. Flesh flaying. Blood spraying. The purple giant raked and clawed its hands repeatedly into its prey. Blood, organs, bones, and flesh were scattered in all directions.

"…She said it was the robot that saved our lives."

A harsh grip and a quick jerk. A loud "snap!" echoed as an arm was torn loose from its elbow, and was tossed aside, a warm red spray spurted from the bloody stump.

Flesh ripping. Bones snapping. Blood spraying. Flesh tearing. Bones breaking. Organs spilling. Flesh splitting. Organs flying. Blood draining. The purple titan ripped and tore into its victim, content only with full eradication.

Yui kept trying to get her son's attention, to snap out of this dream, to wake him up…but the nightmare continued.

Fluids, meat, and bones were scattered across the road. Blood dripped from traffic lights and painted both cars and buildings alike.

"STOP IT! FATHER! STOP THIS GODDAMNED THING FOR GODSAKE!"

Shinji fruitlessly kept trying to work the controls, pushing and pulling the handles over and over again.

"PLEASE, PLEASE, JUST STOP IT, MAKE IT STOP, DEAR GOD MAKE IT STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP!"

But it didn't stop. It kept tearing into the carcass. Eva Unit 03 was already dead, its own core already in pieces, but the angel's…

Bloody hands clawed through an eviscerated and sloppy corpse, relentlessly searching for their target.

Eva Unit 01, with red eyes, continued to desecrate the corpse of what was meant to be a fellow soldier. Now, all that Unit 03 amounted to was garbage to be disposed of.

Suddenly, Unit 01 did stop. It found what it wanted.

It pulled the tube into its sight, and its fingers began to furl.

"MAKE IT STOP!"

Scrunch. The entry plug cracked and shattered as it was crushed. LCL splattered and leaked from the fissures.

"_NO!" _

He screamed for several long agonizing seconds, until he had no more air in his lungs.

The purple titan ceased moving, freshly coated in the red blood of its latest kill, a crushed entry plug within its hand, and its maw left hanging open.

And then, everything was calm, tranquil, and quiet.

A large dead hand, a short distance away, laid in a nearby river, the current of water carrying the blood downstream.

"Eva Unit 03…I mean…the target has gone completely silent sir."

A black void swallowed everything, and Yui was once again left by herself.

Two white horizontal slits of light appeared.

* * *

A boy opened his eyes as wide as possible, immediately sat up, and gasped for air. He was sticky, dirty, and drowning in sweat.

After a few seconds, he put his head back down on the soft pillow.

As the fog of sleep left him, he realized he was in a bed, and above him was…

"Another unfamiliar ceiling." Shinji uttered with a morose voice. "And the same nightmare…"

He remembered, right before he went unconscious, staring at Shougoki's bloody hand, his bloody hand. He had no idea where Unit 01 came from, he had no idea how he had synchronized with it to the point Eva's body was actually his own, and he had no idea how he was laying here in this bed as a human after that.

...This was all that business man's fault.

Several seconds passed as Shinji stared at the decorated triangle panels that made up the ceiling. Sunlight was streaking into the room. It wasn't the filtered light used in the Geofront, so everything wasn't overcast with a white hue.

Somehow, that made this room uncomfortable to him. He had just gotten used to the old hospital…

From what he could tell, it was afternoon.

Slowly, he sat back up.

He looked down at himself. He was wearing some sort of hospital gown. There were a few differences between it and Nerv's, but for all purposes, it was the same.

Feeling something on his neck, he reached back with his left hand. There was a small plastic disc at the base of his neck. Something was also touching his temples, and when he explored with his fingers, he found more discs there as well.

Not wanting to anger anyone, he left them be.

Continuing his self examination, he found he also had an IV sticking into his arm, and some kind of medical bracelet around his wrist, which was lit up with several symbols he didn't understand by several different colors. Overall, it was mostly glowing blue and green, but there were a few yellow symbols, and even fewer red symbols. The red symbols were pulsating rather quickly though. He wondered what that meant.

He thought he felt fine if that was the problem. This was normal for him.

Putting thoughts about his health out of his mind, he slowly brought his right hand in front of him, and turned his palm to his face.

For several agonizing minutes he studied his hand.

He was still tense. His heart was beating at an accelerated rate.

Before whatever happened in the coliseum, the last time Unit 01 had blood on its hands…the last time he could feel the blood and liquid on Unit 01's hands…was when the dummy plug forced Eva to slaughter Unit 03 and the 13th angel. The memories were vivid as they were painful.

He kept staring at his hand.

His heart hadn't slowed down.

Even though it was currently dry, he could still describe the feeling of fresh, hot blood dripping off it perfectly.

He brought it to his nose and took a sniff.

"And it still smells like…blood."

His darkened mood slowly started to dissipate when he then thought of recent events.

Slowly, he put his hand down to his side.

His mother…

He thought she was in the Eva…

No. He knew she was in the Eva.

And now, Eva was with him.

Did that mean his mother was…trapped in him like with Eva?

And if that was true, could he bring her back to the real world?

The only person he knew loved him.

…She did love him.

Didn't she?

* * *

Sunlight streamed through the windows of Dr. Mizuni's office. She, a woman defined by her black curly hair and her rectangular glasses, was at her desk looking over the data from a holographic screen on her newest patient.

She leaned back in her chair and yawned. She looked back at her brown sludge in a cup distastefully, before bringing up the resolve to ingest the "stay awake" glob.

She wrinkled her noise as she swallowed, and shivered.

"I need to get the premium stuff…"

She stared at the image of her new patient. Shinji Ikari.

He was her only student patient right now given it was only the beginning of the semester. Sure, a few of the workers were in for the occasional accident, but those were small stuff. This kid…was different.

Boy, was he different.

The nerve centers in his brain responsible for motor control and feeling were, very recently and periodically for the past few months, suffering from periods of intense prolonged hyperactivity. They were under such duress and strain…. she didn't know how they weren't "burnt out" by now. The rest of his nervous system also suffered from this problem, but to a lesser degree.

It was similar to a few cases she had before, when a few of the upperclassmen at the academy used illegal stimulants, but whatever stimulated her patient…it didn't affect any other of his cognitive functions. He was at a baseline state in terms of awareness, alertness, and so on. Only specific areas were suffering from this trauma.

There were no drugs in his system she recognized at all to cause this, but there was a liquid substance, one that he was absolutely drenched in when he was brought to the medical center. The orange clear liquid was…odd. It roughly had the density of water and was heavily oxygenated. From what she could tell, she guessed it was some form of amniotic fluid, considering his lungs were full of it and it allowed liquid breathing. It also…smelled exactly like blood…

Fortunately, most of the substance dissolved into his bloodstream, while a smaller portion simply broke down into Carbon Dioxide once the Oxygen was removed from the former liquid by his lungs, so he didn't have to cough it all up to breathe air again, and given the amount of liquid involved…that would have been practically lethal, or such a damaging influence on his lungs, that he would need a new pair, pronto.

But that liquid didn't cause anything to him mentally, yet when it was in his system, the hyperactivity in his nerve centers was also present. There definitely was some kind of link between the two.

And why would he be in the stuff? What purpose did it serve? Is it tied to his "Seikijin?"

Beyond that, when he started to suffer from night terrors in his sleep, the hyperactivity in those areas of the brain would flare up again, quite massively. The mental probes on the sides of his noggin and the back of his head were meant to induce a state of consciousness if he slipped into a coma. That was her intent. She didn't intend for them to monitor his dreams or nightmares...

And she knew what uncomfortable hurdle she would have to cross later because of that….

"Damn policy…"

She turned her thoughts to the recent past.

She saw the vid that went viral, and it honestly scared her.

…Besides all the oddities of his physical health, there was also the whole Seikijin thing. That was the primary reason why she was drinking the crummy beverage on her desk right now, and why he was in her care to begin with.

Considering the roar scared her right out of sitting on her bed onto her bedroom floor face first (which she couldn't even begin to understand how _that _happened) while she was reading her favorite horror series, and seeing what you thought was a prank actually confirmed to be something else...a monster that looked like it came right out of her, coincidentally, favorite horror series, she thought she had a reasonable excuse for why she didn't sleep much.

Especially when her mind started to crank out ideas, which actually proceeded to scare her more than the monster did.

For example, she expected the patient to be even more frightening then the purple horror. It was quite understood that a Seikijin was modeled after the person who touched it, in both overt and subtle ways. So when she was told that blood covered abomination was a Seikijin, the unfortunate implications formed in her mind.

To her pleasant surprise, the Seikishi that was pulled from the inactive monstrosity of a Sacred Mechanoid was…ordinary, and she was relaxed by his fact.

'_Well if he looks ordinary, and his Seikijin looks like that, he could always be a sociopathic serial killer hiding behind a well-crafted facade.'_

Then her brain had to fuck everything up.

A sudden wash of shame went over her for cussing even in her thoughts. Mother wouldn't have liked her thinking like that.

She shook her head.

….That's the secondary reason why she had recently knocked back a few…dozen cups of caffeinated brown sludge to hold off the invasion force of fatigue.

Her friends kept telling her, read those kinds of novels and your imagination will take the ideas and run with them every chance they get.

Which in this case were sociopathic homicidal kids and giant horrifying beasts from other dimensions.

She sighed. She was getting worked up over nothing. The kid looked normal for a Seikishi. Sure his Seikijin was…spooky, and he had a few medical abnormalities, but that doesn't mean she should be afraid of the kid, right?

…Right?

She took a deep breath. "He's my patient. He's my patient. He's my patient. He is not an eldritch horror or a sociopathic murderer. He is not an eldritch horror or a sociopathic murderer. He is not an eldritch horror or a sociopathic murderer."

Her eyebrow sort of twitched. "So, he summoned an eldritch horror but that doesn't mean-"

She cut herself off by slapping her right cheek hard.

"No! None of that! He's my patient. He's my patient. He's my patient. He's not an eldritch horror. Not an eldritch-"

"Ahem."

Her face became crimson. Nuclear blush detected.

Dr. Mizuni turned towards the face of her head nurse on her holographic screen, who had her arms crossed.

"...You didn't hear anything, Barnette."

"No, no, I didn't hear you trying to convince yourself your fourteen year old patient isn't a tentacle monster from outer space. Not at all." She laughed. "He might be an otherworlder Ma'am, but I don't think he's that kind of otherworldly."

Mizuni's eyebrows twitched. "So…what do you need me for, Head Nurse?"

"You're "not-an-eldritch-horror" is awake."

She blinked. "Why didn't my bracer…" She looked at the band on her arm, which was blinking. "Whoops." She looked back to her nurse sheepishly.

The nurse just ignored the blunder. "I've also informed the Headmistress. In fact, she's on her way to visit the patient herself."

Mizuni nodded, "I expected as much. Well, how is he?"

The nurse sighed. "He suffered from another night terror, that's actually what woke him up, and it was the most severe out of all of them. He was hyperventilating in his sleep, his blood pressure skyrocketed, and his heart was beating as if he was running some kind of marathon, much worse than the last few times." Barnette, stated with worry. "I haven't seen anything like this from someone his age in person. What could cause this?"

"Considering what happened a few days ago, I wouldn't exactly blame him, but this is quite an overreaction…did the sedative in his IV calm him down?"

The nurse shook her head negatively.

She sighed. "I guess that means I have to look at the recorded dreams then. The mental probes caught everything responsible, right?

"Yes, ma'am."

Uncertainty consumed her face. "I don't really like doing this, breaking someone's intimate privacy. It's hard to stay professional at that point…"

"The kid has no legal guardians present or even accounted for, and he's still a child. He has no say over something that could be this detrimental to his health. If this continues, his heart will surely wear itself out, knocking years if not decades out of his life. Considering his position," Barnette furrowed her brows, "besides his obvious oddity, you know very well how you are supposed to proceed."

"Yes, 'anything that can reduce the life span of a male Seikishi, no matter how trivial, is a top priority'."

That sentiment had been drilled into the entire medical staffs' heads over and over for years and years.

The Head Nurse gained a sympathetic face. "You're going to be working with the counselor to help the kid. You're not doing it by yourself. Besides, I doubt it's anything monumental. It won't be like last time… "

The doctor took a deep breath. "Fine, I'll do it. While I'm busy, get him something to eat. He's probably starving. You also have seniority while I'm busy. Only use the backdoor code if there's an emergency."

"Sure thing ma'am." The nurse placed a fist into her flat palm. "Oh, and one more thing, the Heamistress requested if he can move to the dorms today?"

"If I'm still occupied…sure, you've got my blessing…but keep one of the probes on him for overnight observation, the one on his spine, and have him report here tomorrow."

"Yes, Ma'am." The image of the nurse folded in on itself and disappeared in a point of light.

Mizuni took another swig of the horrible liquid keeping her awake.

'_Well, I better get through this. Whatever it is, I'm sure both I and Professor Ulyte can help the kid with it.'_

She pressed a few more buttons that were in her desk. The doors to the room were locked, the windows became tinted, allowing only her to see out of them, but no one to see through them, and her terminal blocked all incoming communications even to her bracer. The standard "In session" message was stated to greet anyone who would try to access the room or contact her.

She sighed, as she pressed a few buttons that were built into her desk. A transparent diagram of her patient's brain popped up. Several different sections of it were flared up in bright lights.

She adopted a serious expression. "I best just dive right in."

The image shifted as it displayed the brain during the first nightmare Shinji had in their care.

What she saw in the midst of her patient's vision surprised her.

It was a creature that had two mask-like faces, one in the middle, and one hanging off the other to the side. Two black holes, which must have been eyes, were present on both, but only the left face had a feature besides that. It was a sort of mouth-less beak, giving it a sort of bird quality. The faces themselves were on the things' upper torso. There was no head. It had giant white bony shoulders also with black holes. Maybe they were eyes too. There was a red orb on its chest, below the "faces", with a rib cage actually protruding out of the thing's flesh surrounding it. It had long dangly arms with bony protrusions coming out of the elbow, preventing the creature from ever having its arms straight.

Besides all of those details, she saw that this thing was a giant within a city, dwarfing several buildings with over a dozen stories. This thing was larger than a Seikijin, roughly twice the height.

"Well…that's imaginative." She took a swig of her beverage.

She quickly looked back at the diagram…and almost spat out the hot liquid in her mouth.

'_This isn't a nightmare…' _She forced the liquid down as she swallowed.

She stared back at the window into her patient's mind. A female voice started to speak.

"Are you ready Shinji?"

Her patient responded apprehensively. "Um…yeah…"

'…_.it's a memory.'_

The woman's voice started to shout. "Final safety locks, release!"

The sound of shifting metal came from somewhere behind her patient

"Evangelion Unit 01, move out!"

More metal shifted, and her patient's perspective slowly lurched forward and slightly down.

"Shinji, just concentrate on walking for now…"

* * *

Footsteps echoed down the hallway as Lithia and the Holy Land's Administrator walked through the hospital.

"What's going to become of him?" Lithia asked.

"He's going to be enrolled, of course, if he says yes. The Church has already paid for his tuition."

"I know that, I've already spoken to Grandfather about the incident. Will he be enrolled as a normal student, or as a Seikishi?"

"A Seikishi."

"Even after the coliseum?"

"Yes."

Lithia raised an eyebrow. "Are you actually considering letting that "Seishishi" out again?"

"Divine beast?" She chuckled. "I didn't think you would be one to use that nickname."

"It does best describe it." Lithia stated.

"It does indeed. As for your question, we will see what happens with Shinji in a more…controlled setting. The Church has given me full discretion over that. "

Lithia frowned. She then scoffed. "I don't think the workers would like having to clean up another small lake of blood again."

"We will see if his first activation will repeat itself, or if it was an isolated incident. It could have been his first activation." She smiled fondly. "When I was young, my first activation caused my home village's entire valley of flowers to bloom a season early."

"There's quite a difference between that and raining blood. One is merely pretty. The other is clearly an omen."

"An omen?" The Headmistress sighed. "That's one way to look at it. Isn't that a bit, superstitious?"

"What other way is there to look at something _like that_? This is something that fits within the old fables my Grandfather told me as a small child. Something like this should not belong in actual reality. Fear and caution, I believe, are an appropriate response." The edge of Lithia's lips slightly shifted down. "Besides, are you going to put him at further physical risk like this?"

"If we don't experiment with this, won't other parties try to do the same, without caring for his well-being? He has become very famous to some, and to others infamous, but they are all still equally scared. He is an unknown, and not in a small way. We will take our time to uncover what we know about his Seikijin, and will do it for his reputations betterment. The more curiosity we kill with our own hands, the more likely the cat can go on living peacefully, as well as keeping Shinji safe."

Lithia laughed slightly. "Going by that metaphor, while the cat will live, we will be the ones to die."

"Not quite. A cat is rather blunt in its investigation. We will be more careful."

"I think you're taking the metaphor too literally."

"As are you, but I'm sure you understand what I mean."

Lithia sighed. "I guess I do."

"Besides, we aren't forcing him to do anything. We will leave the decision ultimately to him."

They both continued walking in silence, as they approached a room tagged with the number twenty-one.

The door opened, and a brown haired woman, with a slightly freckled face and green eyes walked out. As she closed the door behind her, she saw the two newcomers. "Oh, you're already here. I just gave him his lunch, but he can see you now."

"How is he?" The oldest woman in the room asked with a smile.

"Well, right now he's fine physically, his heart rate was a bit high, but I gave him a minor sedative and it's finally calmed it down now. He's also a bit on the smelly side given how much he sweated" Barnett pursed her lips. "Besides that, there was something odd."

"Odd?" Lithia asked.

"Yes. He-" She looked down, as her bracer kept blinking. She sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm needed elsewhere pronto." She curtsied towards the two. "He's eating still, but you can go on ahead and start the interview. If you want to discuss the exact details, you can speak with Dr. Mizuni, but she's busy for the time being." With that, she started a brisk walk down the hallway.

Lithia and the Headmistress shared a curious look, before turning to the door.

* * *

Shinji stared at the plate of hot food in front of him.

It absolutely reeked of fanciness. Shinji was fairly certain this meal was far too extravagant for someone like him to eat.

He could tell the food was crafted by someone who knew what they were doing, and loved doing it.

Strangely, he didn't feel hungry, but that wasn't going to make him waste food that someone prepared for him, especially something like this. He didn't want to slight anyone after all.

He lifted a piece of meat with a fork, and brought it to his mouth…

There was a knock on the door.

Shinji slowly placed his occupied fork down on the tray in front of him.

"You can come in?" Shinji meekly stated.

The door opened, and two people slowly walked in. It wasn't someone walking carefully, but a more of a dignified stroll saying "I am important" but not in such a way that it was overly pompous.

There was an older woman with short grey hair and a plump face, and a younger woman with long strawberry blond hair wearing glasses. Both stopped walking a few meters away from the foot of his bed.

"Hello." The older woman said with a smile.

"H-hello."

The younger woman just stared at Shinji as if he was a practical joke. "_You're_ Shinji Ikari? "

The Headmistress slightly frowned at Lithia's direction, though Shinji didn't notice.

Shinji blinked. "Yes…"

She crossed her arms. "More specifically, y_ou're_ the Seikishi for the Seishishi?"

"S-Seishishi? Sacred Beast? Ano...you mean am I the pilot of Evangelion Unit 01?"

"Evangelion Unit 01?" The older woman asked. "You named your Seikijin?"

"No, I didn't. I think my Father did…or maybe Dr. Akagi."

Both of the women just stared at him in confusion.

"In the coliseum—"

Shinji visibly winced.

"-was that the first time you activated a Seikijin?" The older woman asked.

"Yes."

"But it wasn't the first time you…"piloted" it?"

Shinji nodded.

Lithia and the Headmistress looked at each other.

The older woman looked towards Shinji, and kindly asked, "I apologize. We haven't introduced ourselves."

"You don't have to apologize."Shinji said sincerely.

"I believe I do." She continued. "I'm the Headmistress of this Academy," She gestured towards the younger woman. "This is Lithia, head of the student council, and the church's appointed representative. Would you mind answering a few questions for us, like about this…Evangelion?"

"…You're in charge of this place?"

She nodded.

Shinji looked down. "I'm not supposed to talk about it…" but he looked back up with an unreadable expression. "…but I guess it doesn't matter anymore."

* * *

The stars slowly filled the sky as the light of the Sun beyond the horizon dimmed.

The Headmistress slowly entered her office, with Lithia behind her.

Step by step, she made her away around the ornate furniture to her desk.

After sitting down, she started to rub her eyes.

Both she and Lithia had tired expressions.

"Is…Is there any way we can…verify what he told us?" Lithia asked.

"Maybe, but we will leave that for tomorrow. I'm…rather…tired…"

"After hearing that…I understand perfectly. I need to read something…much more cheerful." She shook her head. "While his Seikijin does fit with his story, far beyond anyone could falsely construct that quickly, but…it can't be that bad. Can it? We now know he's from earth, but its situation was never that bad from what we've heard from those summoned from there…"

"The youngest person from earth on this world, besides Shinji, last lived on their world over thirty years ago, and that was when they were a child. No one but Shinji knows what has recently happened there."

"…but he can't be right. I can't believe what he says is true…I just can't."

"Whether if you or I believe it or not, he definitely believes what he is saying." She sighed. "Did you see the way he told us?"

"…No…what do you mean?"

"If he were lying, why would you suppose he tell us what he did?"

"…To inflate his own ego, but that—"

"-Doesn't fit his demeanor at all. He told us a great deal without us digging any information out of him. He also spoke in a very…lethargic manner."

"Is it possible he is just seeking attention?"

The Headmistress laughed. "His Seikijin did that for him." Her mirth dissolved into seriousness. "No. He didn't speak of any personal details. He didn't talk about his parents. He didn't talk about how he felt about it. He didn't plead for anything. He didn't _ask_ for anything. We asked him a question about his Seikijin, Evangelion Unit 01, and he answered it."

"A few hours to answer a few simple questions seem quite overboard to me."

"Simple?" She shook her head. "He confirmed both our and the Church's hypothesis. He told us what his Seikijin is. He told us its purpose. He told us he's "piloted" it multiple times as its designated pilot. He told us why he was the pilot, a soldier, in the first place. He told us who sent him here. The questions may be simple, but the answers obviously aren't."

Lithia shifted slightly. Her glasses reflected the light off a nearby lamp, blocking someone from seeing her eyes. "He only raised further questions."

The Headmistress slightly smiled. "That he did." Her smile faded. "That…he did, but, I believe we are done asking questions, for now." She looked toward Lithia. "Did you see the way he accepted our offer?"

"Yes." Lithia cocked her head. "He answered it…oddly."

"I have seen something like this before."

"Like what?"

"He has a broken spirit."

Lithia slightly laughed. "What did you say about superstition earlier?"

The Headmistress ignored her question "Tell me, child. Have you ever seen a person without any will?"

Lithia blinked. "…What do you mean?"

The Headmistress leaned back. "What do you want?"

"…pardon?"

"In life, what do you want? Why do you exist?"

"That's quite personal."

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

There was a short moment of silence.

"…I exist, merely because I exist. I am. There is no deep reason to it. There is no fate involved in the matter. I am alive simply because my mother and father wanted a child. I am the result of their love. I didn't choose to exist, so asking why I do seems rather redundant, and as for why I continue to exist, it is simple, because I find joy in living. As for what I want? I want to achieve what I am fully capable of, constructively for the benefit of myself and others."

"An interesting answer. Many people answer that question differently, and while there are many answers, none of them are false, for the answer is as true as the belief put into them, as the answer ultimately only benefits the one answering it." "

Lithia raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do wit-" She slowly stopped speaking as understanding filled her face.

"That boy, Shinji Ikari, is still searching for an answer to that question."

* * *

Near the borders of the Holy Land, a dark ship hung in the air, in the same way bricks don't.

And on board that vessel, there was a discussion between a masked man and a hologram.

"Honestly, I can't believe you tried to kill him. You jumped the gun." A gruff voice from the hologram spoke.

"It's too dangerous to let him live!" The masked man angrily yelled.

"Humph! Jealous of someone better than you?"

The masked man ignored the jab. "If we let him leave, he'll reveal our identities!"

"We're dealing with that princess. She probably already knows."

"Then that's all the more reason to destroy all the evidence!"

"That no longer concerns me."

"…What? What do you mean!? If we let her go—"

"Silence! If she no longer concerns me, she no longer concerns you. We will deal with her later. For now, I have a more important task for you."

"What could be more important than this?"

The hologram's visage smiled darkly. "You do remember what happened in the Holy Land during the coronation?"

"…That odd Seikijin. What does that have to do with me?"

"The cargo ship containing the very same Sacred Mechanoid is near your location. In fact, it is closer to you than even the Swan is. This is providence. They are on their way to the Heart of the Church, and I want you to…relieve them of their burden."

"…Why?"

"It has garnered my interest. The death of a little girl can wait, as well as the prize aboard the Swan."

The masked individual looked down.

The image of the man simply laughed. "You will get your chance at the other eventually. Just do what I tell you," He glared at the masked individual "or you may not get that chance."

The masked person slowly nodded. "I understand."

"Good. Your ship already has the data. Now go, and claim my prize."

"What about Doll?"

"She will remain asleep for now. You must fulfill your own duties."

"Yes, Sir!"

With that, the hologram shut off.

The mask man turned around, and started speaking out loud.

"Prepare to launch the Sacred Mechanoids as soon as possible!

Move the ship before the pilgrimage route guards get here!"

* * *

Jozzy didn't think about the students most of the time. She focused mainly on her work. When she did think about the students, it was mostly out of aggravation: The underclassmen, for causing unnecessary messes, and the upperclassmen, for stealing all her best maids as their own personal servants...after the Holy Academy paid for their training. She had never felt physically ill when thinking of a student…until now.

"Is something wrong?"

"NO! No. No. No. No." Jozzy said with her hands up. "Nothing's wrong at all!" She lied through her teeth.

Her charge, Shinji Ikari, had gained quite the reputation with the servants in the Holy Land, specifically those responsible for cleaning.

Jozzy used to work for the Janitorial Division. It's rare for them to have to clean up blood, but when they do, it takes a heap of work. Blood is messy, very messy. When it stains, that stain loves to stay there and proclaim to the world that it exists. Even if you got rid of it visibly, the stain would most likely still remain if you didn't use the more powerful cleaners.

The smell, the consistency, the very sight of it, it just disgusted her.

It's fairly one of the main reasons why she left the janitorial division. An odd reason to most, she knew, but while she could clean vomit, urine, and feces, the whole human filth trinity, with no problems, blood was just her personal breaking point, even though it was rare.

So, when a Seikijin leaves over ten million gallons of blood, and the Janitorial Division has to draft the entirety of the Maid Division and the Construction Division for help…it leaves quite an influence.

Specifically the quickly spreading nick-name, Blood Boy.

She involuntarily shivered.

'_Why did I have to be the closest person on hand to act as the kids guide…' _

She didn't hate the kid. She didn't even dislike him. He seemed nice too. But after you indirectly cause her to have to clean up that much blood, you've ended in her "you creep me out" book.

She couldn't even watch the video that everyone spread around. As soon as that egg started chunking crimson, she was chunking something that wasn't crimson.

And then she had to clean that mess up too…

Oh well, at least it will only happen once.

She quickened her pace.

His face just kept reminding her...and she was starting to get sick.

* * *

"Is that all?"

"For now, yes your grace." The Headmistress replied. "That is all I know about his past."

"Where is he now?"

"On his way to his new dormitory. The head nurse told us it was alright for him to leave the hospital."

"So…he accepted our offer. Anything else?"

"I am…concerned about his mental state."

"What does the physician have to say?"

"His leading doctor is currently occupied. I will update you as needed. The activation test is tomorrow."

"He even agreed to that?"

"That's what was strange."

"What?"

"While he seemed…lethargic and subdued about everything else, when we asked him that…he was absolutely sure he wanted to do that. It was almost like he was another person."

"Hmm, that will be all for now."

* * *

"Alright, here's your dorm! You'll learn the specifics inside. Bye!"

Shinji was left there staring blankly as the very thin woman with short light-brown hair left him at the entrance of the Boys Dormitory. She seemed kind of….green. She must feel sick.

"Uh…Thank You?" He yelled after her.

"You're Welcome!" She yelled at him with a cheerful green face, before she quickly covered her mouth as her cheeks bloated, and she darted away.

Shinji just raised an eyebrow. "I hope you feel better!" He yelled after her, but she was already gone.

Shinji slowly turned to stare at the building in front of him.

It was rather intricate for a boy's dorm. It looked more like a cathedral spliced with a castle.

'…_So this is where my new "home" is.' _

He smiled.

'_At least there won't be any attacking angels…"_

His smile slowly crumbled into a frown.

'…_there won't be any attacking angels.'_

Shame slammed into him. His eyes widened slightly, and then slowly contracted back to normal.

'…_I truly am pathetic.'_

* * *

"This thing gives me the creeps."

"I know what you mean…"

Two shipmates on a metal deck, underneath a starry canopy, stared at their cargo.

"It stinks like something just died..."

The other laughed. "It's funny. It actually reminds me of the time I used to be on fishing boat. Looked kind of like this ship too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, smell was similar, but here, it's worse."

"How so?"

"Simple, back then, we could eat the smelly little bastards."

The other man guffawed. "Yeah, that would improve things a lot."

"So, you got the graveyard shift too, huh."

"Yup, another week with a screwed up sleep schedule." He looked down at his wrist watch. "Hey, I've got to go back under and use the radio. I've got to say goodnight to my daughter."

"Aww, what a good father you are!."

"Shut up!" He turned around and started for the stairs leading to under the deck.

"Hey! Shall we gather for whiskey and cigars later tonight?" The man left on the deck asked.

The other man stood for a second. "Yes, I believe so." Then he made his way into the bowels of the ship.

The man left alone under the stars turned back around and stared at the blood filled Seikijin cocoon; pieces of flesh were still floating around. He just looked at it in disgust.

Something immediately tugged him back from behind, and he felt something cold touch his throat.

A quick yank later, and he started to choke on his blood, as it spilled into his trachea and the slit through his neck.

Within moments, he was dead.

The black figure who murdered him put the top of her left wrist to her mouth. "The deck is secure. Proceeding to clean the bottom levels. Is the escort down?"

"Affirmative. Radar and particle sensors are being jammed as we speak. Proceed with the sanitation. Be quick and thorough."

"Acknowledged. Estimated time of completion will be three minutes." The black figure pressed a button on her wrist and slowly faded from visible sight, and made her way to the stairs.

* * *

Shinji stared at the paper in his hands. He had room 18. Apparently, while the Boys dormitory had larger rooms due to less male students, they were still stuck with roommates.

And someone had…requested hm.

Shinji didn't like to disappoint people, so he didn't refuse it.

He shook his head, and kept walking.

The rooms were spaced out quite a bit more then you would expect from a dormitory. There would be a door, and then over a dozen meters of wall until the next door appeared, and each door had another door on the opposite side of the hallway. There was also the fact the hallways were so…tall. It was strange.

'_Room 13 and Room 14.'_

Who would request him after what happened?

'_Room 15 and 16.'_

…and why?

'_Room 17…and 18.'_

He stared at the door to his room.

And stared.

Shinji raised his right hand which was trembling, and balled it into a loose fist.

He opened his left hand and closed it tightly. Open. Close. Open. Close. Open….

He knocked on the door.

Close.

He took short shallow breaths, as seconds agonizingly passed.

A minute went by.

Then two.

Shinji took a deep breath. He didn't knock loud enough. He raised his hand again, with more determination this time…and stopped as he saw the button right by the door.

"…A…door bell?"

Shinji had no idea why a dormitory room needed a door bell, but he pressed it nonetheless.

Shinji didn't hear anything, except for light footsteps making their way to the door.

His shallow breathing returned.

The door opened.

Shinji blinked. "C-C-Ceres-san?"

He was then engulfed into a bear hug, and was being constricted in grip. "Shinji! You're okay!"

"C-c-can't breathe." Shinji choked out.

"Oh!" Ceres stepped back quickly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I was just worried, and you're still here, and I thought you would be stuck at the hospital, or worse, that you wouldn't stay at the school, but you're here, and that's great, and..and…" Ceres took a deep breath. "I'm just really glad you're okay."

Shinji just blinked again. "You…worried about me, Ceres-san?"

"Of course I did. We are friends after all."

Shinji just slowly smiled. "Yeah…we are."

"Well come on in." Shinji was yanked inside Room 18.

As the door was closed behind him, Shinji realized why Ceres couldn't hear him.

"This isn't a dorm room...this is an apartment!"

Shinji stared around the hallways, seeing one jut off into a kitchen, one into a dining room, one into a living room, and even stairs leading upwards.

"I guess that's one way to look at it Shinji."

"…Why is it so…big?"

"Male Seikishi are kind of a big deal like that."

"…but, this place is even bigger then Misato's apartment!"

"Misato?"

Shinji turned to look at Ceres . "She is-" and slowly, he frowned "-was my guardian."

Ceres let out a breath. "So...you really are from another world?"

Shinji tilted his head. "You know about that?" He frowned. "They told me the interview was confidential."

Ceres shook his head. "No. No. It was just a guess. Everyone _is_ talking about it, and that's the most popular theory right now."

Shinji just looked confused. "What do you mean by that?"

Ceres eyes widened. "You mean you don't know?!"

"Know what?"

Ceres grabbed Shinji's arm. "I'll show you!"

* * *

Dead bodies are heavy. Anyone can tell you that.

But as the person dragging the actual…former person, it hurt.

As she moved, the corpse in her hands left a bloody smear as it was dragged across the deck. His body and his blood were still warm.

She kept her face and movements professional, but inside, she was a mess. She kept thinking over and over in her head, something, anything to help her get over it, to justify it, but nothing helped.

Today, she learned killing is breathtakingly easy. Living with it on the other-hand….

'_I did it for king and country. I did it for king and country. I did it for king and country. I did it for king and country…'_

Over and over, she kept thinking that, but the guilt and pain never dulled.

'_No…I didn't do it for them. I did it for…for him.' _

But it still hurt.

'_This is the last one. This is the last one. This is the last one…'_

She neared the edge of the deck and lifted the former living person. When she reached the guardrails, she looked down at the corpse. His dead eyes were staring right through her. This was the man she killed first…and the last she would dump over.

'_Someone used to cradle him, and kissed him when he cried.'_

A lone tear splashed on his forehead.

"I'm…sorry. I'm so sorry."

She lifted the corpse over the guardrail, and pushed him over.

He fell to the wilderness, hurtling hundreds of meters below to the ground. For a few seconds, she just stared down to the earth with empty eyes.

She then slowly turned back to the deck of the ship, and brought her wrist to her mouth once more.

"The crew…the bodies…have been dealt with, and the ship's heading has been changed. Awaiting further orders."

A voice crackled through. "Stand by."

She hated that her CO said that.

Now, nothing would distract her from her thoughts…

* * *

"-and currently, the video of your Seikijin has over two _billion_ views!"

Shinji just slowly twitched. "…Two…b-billion?

Both of them were currently sitting on a couch viewing the holographic screen on the wall.

"Yeah, it's become the most watched video on the Net since…" Ceres poked Shinji. "Uh, Shinji?" Ceres waved his hand in front of the still form of the Third Child. "Is anyone there?"

"It really was just like the Twelfth Angel all over again…" Shinji mutter.

"Uh…Twelfth Apostle? What does that mean?"

Shinji shook his head. "It's nothing…"

Ceres crossed his arms. "You do know, people say that generally when it's not nothing."

Shinji looked down to the floor. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Ceres cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"I…I caused that, and you aren't afraid of me…why? Shouldn't you be afraid of me?"

"Well…it's odd, sure," Ceres looked at Shinji. "…but that doesn't mean it should be something to be afraid of. Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I abandoned you?" '_You're the only commoner like me here.' _

"T-Thank you."

"…you're welcome."

There was a moment of silence.

"Remember when you said if you didn't know any better, you would think I fell right out of the sky on that boat."

"Yeah?"

"You don't know any better."

Ceres blinked. "You mean…well that explains a lot. I don't want to be…rude, but for a few minutes after that, I kind of thought you were just a bit..." Ceres braced as if he were about to get hurt. ".of an idiot. I'm sorry."

Shinji just stared at Ceres. He slowly snorted, then sniggered, and then was all out laughing.

Ceres face adorned a fake smile. "Was it…really that funny?"

Shinji slowly brought down his laughter."By itself? Not at all."

Ceres adopted a sweat drop.

"It's just…I had a friend who called me stupid all the time. Having someone say it…like you just did…is so…weird. It's just funny I guess."

"Well, I didn't want to offend you…"

Shinji was now on the floor, and could hardly breathe.

Ceres fake smile came back, and slowly chuckled. "Heh..heh..heh?"

Shinji slowly stood up, and smiled brightly. "Ceres-san…I haven't laughed like that….in a long time. Thank you."

Ceres fake smile slowly faded. "You're welcome?"

"What time is it?"

Ceres looked lost in contemplation and turned towards the holo-screen. "It's eleven-thirty PM."

"I really need to take a shower, so…"

"Oh, well, there's one upstairs."

Shinji's eyes widened. "Oh right…we have an upstairs." He shook his head. "This place is so weird."

As Shinji went upstairs, Ceres turned back to the holo-screen.

He quietly muttered. "Shinji…isn't normal." He stared at the image of Shinji's Seikijin. "In more ways than one…."

* * *

'_I killed five people today. I'm a murderer. I killed five people today. I'm a murderer…'_

She took a few deep breathes.

'_This is what he wanted…this will help him, and that will help the world…won't it? That can't be wrong, can it? He's a good man. They were the enemy…weren't they? Members of the Church...'_

Her wrist buzzed.

She raised it to her mouth.

"Hai."

"We've successfully placed a false ship on the original voyage. Hopefully, they won't realize it's a decoy until you've safely reached the border. If that doesn't work…you'll have to use the target as an escape vessel."

Her eyes widened. "The cocoon that the Seishishi used?!"

"…Even you are using that term…" The voice on the other end sighed. "Yes, that one, but we don't know if it can still activate. We want you to see if it will and then report back to us as soon as you can."

"…I understand."

With that, her wrist went silent. She turned toward the cocoon in question. She took a deep breath and approached it.

From a distance, you couldn't see through the cocoon. It was red and murky, and chunks of black…stuff floated around, obscuring sight here and there. Up close, she could see what was inside.

The humanoid shape was in the standard deactivation pose, its knees held close to its chest but angled outwards to let a pilot have room inwards. Its arms dangled behind those legs.

Brown dark skin covered the bones of the Sacred Mechanoid. It actually had bones now… She could tell, from where they jutted from the skin here and there. It wasn't metal anymore, like normal. It was still quite thin, which was normal, but in a way to make her think of anorexia, rather than a slim machine.

And then there was its head. It had a mouth, closed eyes, nostrils…and…

'_Oh my god….'_

She just remembered. When it deactivated…it no longer had a head.

'_It's…regenerating; no wonder why the Regent is interested in it.'_

She shook her head.

'_I…have a mission, and I have to do it.'_

She slowly placed her hand on the sphere.

Nothing happened.

Slowly she drew back her hand to her side.

She brought her wrist up to her mouth.

"It's not-"

A giant hand surged forth from the cocoon and grasped her as if she was a toy, and lifted her upwards to greet a face with open eyes staring at her. Green eyes. She could also see a small red glow coming from the chest

"…It's not what, Emera?"

She was too afraid to speak.

She felt something dig into her, and snake over her, under her skin. It felt painful, odd, and…even pleasurable, which made it even worse. Then, she heard a feminine voice speak inside her head.

"You feel pain. Your heart is drowning in sorrow. I can make it all go away, if you want."

Her eyes widened as she slowly could feel the giant as an extension of herself.

"Emera, do you want to become one with me? To be of one mind and body and soul?"

* * *

Shinji slowly put his head to his bed.

His…new bed.

He stared at an unfamiliar ceiling above him.

…but it wasn't scary. It was actually pleasant.

'_I'm no longer in Tokyo 3…_

_I don't have to fight angels anymore._

_Eva won't hurt me anymore._

_Father…won't hurt me anymore._

…_and mother…mother is alive…somehow. _

…_and I have a friend here._

_Misato…Asuka…Rei…Toji…Kensuke…_

_I miss them…._

_..but maybe…this place won't be so bad after all.'_

Although he wasn't tired, he drifted to sleep, a slight smile on his face.

* * *

The Headmistress of the Holy Land yawned. She was tired, yet couldn't sleep. She kept working at her desk. Maybe, she would try retiring to her room again within a few hours, but for now?

She kept on going through documents. Signing here and there. Evaluating what to do with this or that. On and on. Tomorrow was the day students would be finishing the final preparations for school. There was much on her plate.

Her mind drifted towards today's events...

She refocused on her work. She did what she could today. She'll focus on that tomorrow.

A panel of light opened up on her desk, the face of a very distressed Dr. Mizuni greeted her. There were heavy bags under her bloodshot eyes.

"Headmistress…I…I need to show you something, as soon as possible, but…first, when is Professor Ulyte going to be here…when? "

The old woman blinked. "Tomorrow, that's when Princess-King Lashara's pilgrimage ends."

Mizuni's eyes darted around, hectically. "Alright…Alright..I…I can wait until then. You both…must see-"

The Headmistress put her hands out in a placating manner. "It's okay, calm down. What's wrong?"

Mizuni took a few deep breathes. "You know Shinji Ikari's night terrors. Shinji has PTSD. They weren't nightmares….they were traumatic memories."

The Headmistress sighed. '_Looks like I won't be getting much work done tonight...'_

* * *

Emera was screaming. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!"

"_Shhhhh. Everything's going to be okay. Everything is going to be fine. It's time for rest. R__elax, and release your soul__."_

She tried to struggle, but no matter how much she thrashed she couldn't get free.

A hand slowly caressed her cheek.

She looked up.

A smiling young man, with short blond hair and blue eyes, floated in the air above her.

She immediately stopped struggling.

"Lord Dagmeyr…" She slowly smiled, and closed her eyes. Tears of happiness leaked from her eyes.

The figure came closer and closed his eyes.

What she couldn't hear was the voice emitting from her wrist. "Emera, I'm right here, what's wrong? Talk to me!"

She lifted her head, ready to accept him.

As their lips touched, one of them disappeared, and one of them melted away into orange fluid.

The giant turned it hand over. A feminine slit opened in the middle of its hand, and the LCL that made up the individual known as Emera completely drained into it, not a single drop of it was spilt on the deck below.

However, the black clothing she was wearing fell to the ground, and a voice on its wrist screamed her name over and over.

The giant's hand slowly returned to the cocoon. It closed its eyes, and it slept once more.

The ship continued on its pre-programmed route, straight towards the capital of the Shtrayu Empire.

* * *

Author's Notes:

And that's Chapter Two.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Time to reply to reviews:

Jon Cook:

"How is this a Tenchi Muyo! crossover? I'm not seeing anything remotely familiar in here, and I've seen the series."

Ah, I already sent you a PM, but this is a great question to answer here for anyone else. This is using the War on Geminar setting, which is a Spin-off like GXP. The physical setting is either an alternate universe split from the main Tenchi Universe (with certain methods of travel back and forth existing) or just some planet in the Tenchi universe. To be clear, I'm using the latter idea. The protagonist from that setting isn't in the story yet, but he does exist in the fanfiction, so while there won't be any Tenchi, there will be his half-brother, Kenshi.

cookie:

"I love where this story is going, keep it up. I am looking forward to future chapter and see where it's going. I wonder who G-man employer is here, I'm guessing one of the 3 Goddesses. Hoping to see at least Ryo-ohki in here at the very least."

Thanks. Since I'm not going to really spell it out too well later, I'll just say it now. The Gman is not working for or with the Chousin.

As for Ryo-Ohki…eh, she's not going to pop up in this story. Maybe in a sequel, but that's a long way down the roads. She will be mentioned, but only in the context of Kenshi's Pendant.

Glint Of Madness:

"SO COOOOOLLLLLL! I can say this, this story got me to watch the War on Geminar! and I have to say its was FUCKING AWESOME! HOLY SHIT WAS IT AWESOME! Keep up the good work man I can't wait to read more of this!

Oh, a question, is Kenshi going to appear in this story? I don't think you made a mention to him at all in this..."

Thanks for your support!

As you can probably see in this chapter, there are non-overt mentions of Kenshi. It should also lock down where the timeline is in the War on Geminar setting. He will become a major character, don't worry about that, but he will be this story's deuteragonist. Shinji's the protagonist here.

Rc1212:

Awesome chapter!

Looking forward to seeing what happens next! How does the Eva compare to local meacha size wise?"

Thanks for the support!

As for size…oh boy. Evangelion and War on Geminar both suffer from a little syndrome known as "Your Size May Vary" which means, they are not consistent. For a clear example, in the Rebuilds of Evangelion, the "official" size range for an Evangelion is 80 to 200 meters in height. They change size for the drama depending upon the scene, and the same thing applies in the original series as well. Evas can sometimes climb up skyscrapers, and other times are comparably the same size as skyscrapers. Sometimes they completely dwarf the skyscrapers nearby completely, and in concept art, they are stated to be ten meters tall….which is absolutely bogus.

The Seikijin suffer from this as well. In one scene, they tower over people, where the top of a person's head is just barely as tall as one of their feet. In other scenes, where you can see the pilot, the things are about the size of the Seikijin's foot in the sentence before this one. It's…a mess.

So, after doing some scaling based on Kenshi's activation later on, I figured Seikijin are roughly 28 meters tall, so that's where the figure came from when Ceres activated his in Chapter 1. Seikijin aren't all the same height though. They have slight differences based on who's piloting them, but it isn't anything major in terms of height. Evas in this fic will be fifty meters tall, but there is a specific issue with that which will be addressed in the next chapter.

OMAKE:

Shinji raised his right hand, which was trembling, and balled it into a loose fist.

He opened his left hand and closed it tightly. Open. Close. Open. Close. Open….

He knocked on the door.

The door slowly creaked open. It wasn't even closed.

Slowly, Shinji walked in.

The sound of piano notes drifted into his ears through the hallway.

As Shinji followed the notes, he saw a pale boy with silver hair playing the piano and humming "Ode to Joy."

He stopped humming, and continued to play the notes on the piano. "The song is good. Singing brings joy and revitalization to the human soul. I think that song is the highest achievement of the Lilim culture. Don't you agree," He turned towards Shinji, and stared at him with his red eyes. "Shinji Ikari?"

Shinji immediately face palmed. "Kaworu…you're not even in this story. I haven't even met you yet! Didn't you read the script!?"

"Of course I did. I didn't like being resigned to the sequel." He turned back to the piano. "Why would I stay away from you, Shinji, if I could be here?"

Shinji sighed. "What did you do to Ceres?"

"Hmm?"

"What did you do to Ceres? This is his scene, not yours."

"Do you really want him over me, Shinji?"

"Kaworu, will you please stop that! You're not in this story yet. You're not supposed to be here. Now, please just leave! I'll see you in the sequel! "

"But that's such a long time to wait…" Kaworu whined.

"Now Kaworu!"

The Vessel of Adam's soul sighed. "Fine. Fine. You win." He spoke a bit more quietly and bitterly. "Like you always **do**…"

A circular Dirac Sea a few meters in diameter opened up, dropping a blond boy on the floor.

He was currently hog-tied with….

"Uh…Kaworu, why is Ceres tied with…lingerie?"

"I had to use a substitute when I couldn't find rope."

"…and that substitute was…_**underwear**_?"

"It was everywhere on the floor of Major Misato's apartment. When I couldn't find you there…and I found Ceres here…I merely _improvised_."

Shinji slapped is forehead again. "He's my roommate Kaworu, not my boyfriend. Just…just untie him and leave."

"As you wish, Shinji." Kaworu slowly made his way to Ceres. He bent down, and removed the ball of stocking from his mouth. He then spoke directly in his ear. "While you may befriend the Third Child, make no mistake. Shinji Ikari is mine."

"…but…but, I already have a girlfriend." Ceres whimpered.

Kaworu blinked. "Oh….Oh…" Then he let out a long. "Ohhhhh..." He then slowly scratched the back of his head. "I believe this is when you Lilim use the term "My bad."

"You know what Kaworu. I'll untie Ceres myself." Shinji quickly dragged Kaworu to the front door and pushed him out. "Now, stay out!"

"But, but Shinji…I did this because I love you."

Shinji slammed the door in his face.

After a few seconds, Shinji sighed, and cracked the door open.

"I love you too."

Slam.

* * *

OMAKE 2:

"R_elax, and release your soul_."

She tried to struggle, but no matter how much she thrashed she couldn't get free.

A hand slowly caressed her cheek.

In the background, a slight "Ahem" could be heard.

She looked up.

A smiling young man, with short blond hair and blue eyes, floated in the air above her.

She immediately stopped struggling.

The "Ahem" was louder this time.

"Lord Dagmeyr…" She slowly smiled, and closed her eyes. Tears of happiness leaked from her eyes.

The figure came closer and closed his eyes.

"**HEY, SHIT-NOZZEL." **

All eyes turned to the voice: The giant's, the girl's in its hand, and the phantasm's.

A blue-haired girl wearing a school uniform stared at them with red eyes in full contempt. In her hand was a red bident. No, I do not mean trident. It only had two pointy ends, so it was a bident. Get your facts straight Triton. It was specifically red like blood and had a somewhat spiral design on it.

In a much more dignified voice then compared to earlier, the girl known as Rei Ayanami spoke. "I believe this is one of those moments where this phrase is appropriate." Then in the voice just like earlier. **"YOU TOOK MAH JAHB."**

With that, she chucked the tuning fork of death right at the brown giant's red glowing sphere. It really shouldn't glow like that. That's just screaming "HIT THIS POINT FOR MAXIMUM DAMAGE."

The Lance of Longinus morphed into a solid rod, and pierced right through the creature's AT field and immediately slammed into its core. It suddenly went limp, and immediately dropped Emura to the floor.

Emura took a few deep breathes, before slowly turning towards her savior. "Thank yo-"

A pale finger was placed on her lips. "Shhh…" The form of Rei shifted into that of a familiar blonde with blue eyes. "Now, where were we?"


End file.
